Mangalvar Vrat: vidhi, katha and rules
Hanuman ji · Every Tuesday
Mangalvar Vrat is a Tuesday vrat devoted to Hanuman ji. Many people keep it with a sankalp of 21 or 45 Tuesdays. People keep it praying for courage, good health and peace at home.
🗓 Coming dates (Delhi)
- Tuesday, 10 November 2026
- Tuesday, 17 November 2026
- Tuesday, 24 November 2026
- Tuesday, 1 December 2026
- Tuesday, 8 December 2026
- Tuesday, 15 December 2026
- Tuesday, 22 December 2026
- Tuesday, 29 December 2026
Next Shukla paksha begins around Tuesday, 10 November
How it is kept (vidhi)
- Bathe in the morning, wear red if you like, and take the sankalp.
- Offer Hanuman ji vermilion, jasmine oil, red flowers, and jaggery with chana or boondi.
- Recite the Hanuman Chalisa, the Bajrang Baan or the Sundarkand.
- Read or listen to the Mangalvar katha and do the aarti.
- In the evening, share the prasad and have one meal.
Common practices
- Many people eat once a day, often something made of wheat and jaggery.
- Many families avoid salt on the day.
- Keeping calm and self-control in word and action is seen as part of the vrat.
The katha
In a village lived a devoted couple, a Brahmin and his wife. They had all they needed except a child. The husband went to the forest to pray to Hanuman ji, and at home his wife kept a vrat every Tuesday. She would cook, offer bhog to Hanuman ji first, and only then eat.
One Tuesday, for some reason, she could not cook the bhog, so she chose not to eat at all. She stayed like this, quietly, until the next Tuesday. Hanuman ji was moved by her love. He appeared before her and blessed her with a lovely baby boy. She named him Mangal.
When the husband came back, he could not believe the child was theirs, and doubts filled his mind. That night Hanuman ji came in his dream and told him the child was a gift for their faith. The husband's heart became light. From then on the whole family kept the Tuesday vrat together and lived happily.
Families tell this story to honour simple, steady devotion.
Retold in our own words from the traditional story.
Udyapan
When the sankalp is complete, many families do the udyapan on the last Tuesday. A Hanuman puja, sometimes a small havan, and food or daan for 21 Brahmins or people in need are common. Some offer a fresh chola to Hanuman ji.
Questions
- How many Tuesdays is the Mangalvar Vrat kept?
- Many people take a sankalp of 21 or 45 Tuesdays. Some keep it regularly for a long time. Each family's custom is different.
- What if I skip a Tuesday during travel or illness?
- Many families simply continue the next Tuesday. The count picks up from where it was. Some people like to recite the Hanuman Chalisa quietly that day.
This information is awaiting review by a pandit. Traditions differ by family and region.