Hanumān Jayantī (Kārtika) 1963

In Ayodhya and across much of North India, the birth of Sri Hanuman is also celebrated on the Chaturdashi of the dark fortnight of Kārtika (Ashvin in the amanta reckoning), the day before Diwali, the same day as Narak Chaturdashi.

The celebration is at its grandest at Hanumangarhi, the hilltop temple in Ayodhya where Hanuman is worshipped as the guardian of Sri Rama's city. Tradition says that when Rama returned to his kingdom, he gave Hanuman a place to dwell there so that he could protect it forever.

Devotees keep a fast, offer sindoor, jasmine oil and laddus, recite the Hanuman Chalisa, the Bajrang Baan and the Sundara Kanda, and light lamps that lead into the festival of lights the next day.