Origin
It is believed that the boy Tulasidas was fearful of evil spirits. His devoutness was challenged by fellow boys asking him to climb up 40 steps on a high platform in river Ganges in eerie circumstances. The boy accepted the challenge and climbed up the steps chanting the name of Hanuman in each step in a poetic manner. By the time he reached near the idol of Hanuman, he surmounted his fears and created Hanuman Chalisa by the way. Some believe the Chalisa is a 18th or 19th century work based on the language, but there is no solid basement to the argument. Tulsidas says in the last stanza of Chalisa that whoever chants it with full devotion to Hanuman, will have Hanuman's grace. Amongst the Hindus of Northern India, it is a very popular belief that chanting the Hanuman Chalisa invokes Hanuman's divine intervention in grave problems, including those concerning evil spirits and this belief is based on the claim made in the Chalisa itself.
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