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Sri Anjaneya Ashtottara Shatanamavali
1. Om Aanjaneyaaya Namah
2. Om Mahaaveeraaya Namah
3. Om Hanumate Namah
4. Om Maarutaatmajaaya Namah
5. Om Tattvajnyaanapradaaya Namah
6. Om Seetaadeveemudraapradaayakaaya Namah
7. Om Ashokavanikaachchhetre Namah
8. Om Sarvamaayaavibhanjanaaya Namah
9. Om Sarvabandhavimoktre Namah
10. Om Rakshovidhvamsakaarakaaya Namah
11. Om Paravidyaapareehaaraaya Namah
12. Om Parashauryavinaashanaaya Namah
13. Om Paramantraniraakartre Namah
14. Om Parayantraprabhedakaaya Namah
15. Om Sarvagrahavinaashine Namah
16. Om Bheemasenasahaayakrite Namah
17. Om Sarvaduhkhaharaaya Namah
18. Om Sarvalokachaarine Namah
19. Om Manojavaaya Namah
20. Om Paarijaatadrumoolasthaaya Namah
21. Om Sarvamantrasvaroopine Namah
22. Om Sarvatantrasvaroopine Namah
23. Om Sarvayantraatmakaaya Namah
24. Om Kapeeshvaraaya Namah
25. Om Mahaakaayaaya Namah
26. Om Sarvarogaharaaya Namah
27. Om Prabhave Namah
28. Om Balasiddhikaraaya Namah
29. Om Sarvavidyaasampatpradaayakaaya Namah
30. Om Kapisenaanaayakaaya Namah
31. Om Bhavishyachchaturaananaaya Namah
32. Om Kumaarabrahmachaarine Namah
33. Om Ratnakundaladeeptimate Namah
34. Om Sanchaladvaalasannaddhalambamaanashikhojjvalaaya Namah
35. Om Gandharvavidyaatattvajnyaaya Namah
36. Om Mahaabalaparaakramaaya Namah
37. Om Kaaraagrihavimoktre Namah
38. Om Shrinkhalaabandhamochakaaya Namah
39. Om Saagarottaarakaaya Namah
40. Om Praajnyaaya Namah
41. Om Raamadootaaya Namah
42. Om Prataapavate Namah
43. Om Vaanaraaya Namah
44. Om Kesarisutaaya Namah
45. Om Seetaashokanivaarakaaya Namah
46. Om Anjanaagarbhasambhootaaya Namah
47. Om Baalaarkasadrishaananaaya Namah
48. Om Vibheeshanapriyakaraaya Namah
49. Om Dashagreevakulaantakaaya Namah
50. Om Lakshmanapraanadaatre Namah
51. Om Vajrakaayaaya Namah
52. Om Mahaadyutaye Namah
53. Om Chiranjeevine Namah
54. Om Raamabhaktaaya Namah
55. Om Daityakaaryavighaatakaaya Namah
56. Om Akshahantre Namah
57. Om Kaanchanaabhaaya Namah
58. Om Panchavaktraaya Namah
59. Om Mahaatapase Namah
60. Om Lankineebhanjanaaya Namah
61. Om Shreemate Namah
62. Om Simhikaapraanabhanjanaaya Namah
63. Om Gandhamaadanashailasthaaya Namah
64. Om Lankaapuravidaahakaaya Namah
65. Om Sugreevasachivaaya Namah
66. Om Dheeraaya Namah
67. Om Shooraaya Namah
68. Om Daityakulaantakaaya Namah
69. Om Suraarchitaaya Namah
70. Om Mahaatejase Namah
71. Om Raamachoodaamanipradaaya Namah
72. Om Kaamaroopine Namah
73. Om Pingalaakshaaya Namah
74. Om Vaardhimainaakapoojitaaya Namah
75. Om Kabaleekritamaartaandamandalaaya Namah
76. Om Vijitendriyaaya Namah
77. Om Raamasugreevasandhaatre Namah
78. Om Mahiraavanamardanaaya Namah
79. Om Sphatikaabhaaya Namah
80. Om Vaagadheeshaaya Namah
81. Om Navavyaakritipanditaaya Namah
82. Om Chaturbaahave Namah
83. Om Deenabandhave Namah
84. Om Mahaatmane Namah
85. Om Bhaktavatsalaaya Namah
86. Om Sanjeevananagaahartre Namah
87. Om Shuchaye Namah
88. Om Vaagmine Namah
89. Om Dridhavrataaya Namah
90. Om Kaalanemipramathanaaya Namah
91. Om Harimarkatamarkataaya Namah
92. Om Daantaaya Namah
93. Om Shaantaaya Namah
94. Om Prasannaatmane Namah
95. Om Dashakanthamadaapahrite Namah
96. Om Yogine Namah
97. Om Raamakathaalolaaya Namah
98. Om Seetaanveshanapanditaaya Namah
99. Om Vajradamshtraaya Namah
100. Om Vajranakhaaya Namah
101. Om Rudraveeryasamudbhavaaya Namah
102. Om Indrajitprahitaamoghabrahmaastravinivaarakaaya Namah
103. Om Paarthadhvajaagrasamvaasine Namah
104. Om Sharapanjarabhedakaaya Namah
105. Om Dashabaahave Namah
106. Om Lokapoojyaaya Namah
107. Om Jaambavatpreetivardhanaaya Namah
108. Om Seetaasametashreeraamapaadasevaadhurandharaaya Namah
Iti Shree Aanjaneya Svaami Ashtottara Shatanaamaavali
Meaning
The 108 names of Anjaneya set out for archana - Om Aanjaneyaaya Namah, Om Mahaaveeraaya Namah, Om Hanumate Namah, Om Maarutaatmajaaya Namah, and on through the list. Four names in and you already have his whole identity: son of Anjana, the great hero, Hanuman, son of the wind. Saturday and Tuesday evenings in any Karnataka town, you will hear this being read at the Anjaneya temple with the lamps lit.
Significance
Most of the names are not titles, they are events. They point to the leap across the sea, the burning of Lanka, the hill carried back with the sanjivani on it, the sight of Sita in the ashoka grove. Reading the list is a way of going through the Sundara Kanda in shorthand, which is why elders will tell a worried person to read the names when they cannot manage the full Sundara Kanda parayana.
The Saturday connection is worth explaining, because people assume it is arbitrary. Saturday belongs to Shani, and tradition holds that Hanuman stands between the devotee and Shani's harshness - which is why Anjaneya temples are crowded on Saturday evenings and why oil, Shani's own offering, is what is poured on him. Beyond that, he is asked for courage, for freedom from fear, for strength in illness, and by students and wrestlers alike.
Karnataka has its own claim on him. Anjanadri, the hill near Hampi in the old Kishkindha, is held to be his birthplace - held, because Anjaneri in Maharashtra and sites in Jharkhand and elsewhere make the same claim, and no one settles it. Vyasatirtha is credited with installing Hanuman images across the region, the Yantroddharaka Anjaneya at Hampi among them, and that tradition is a large part of why Anjaneya worship is so thick on the ground in this state.
How and when to chant
Saturday first, Tuesday next. Evening, after lighting the lamp, is the usual time at temples; at home, morning works as well.
The offerings are distinctive. Vada mala - a garland of urad dal vadas, strung in elevens or twenty-ones, a hundred and eight for a big vow - is his. So is the garland of betel leaves, folded and threaded, which you will see hanging on the murti in coastal and Malnad temples. Sindura mixed with oil is applied to the image, and sesame or gingelly oil is poured; the black stone under a century of oil and sindura is what an old Anjaneya murti looks like.
For the archana at home: bathe, sit facing east, keep a picture or murti, read the names and offer flowers or tulsi at each - tulsi is welcome here, unlike in Ganesha or Shiva worship. Some keep a Saturday fast, eating once after the evening puja. Hanuman Jayanti is observed on different days in different regions - in much of north India on Chaitra Purnima, while in Karnataka the Hanuman Vrata falls in Margashira - so check a Kannada panchanga rather than a north Indian calendar for the local date.
Frequently asked questions
How does the Sri Anjaneya Ashtottara Shatanamavali begin and end?
Which Ramayana episodes can be traced in the Anjaneya 108 names?
Does the Anjaneya Ashtottara Shatanamavali mention the Mahabharata?
Why do some names in the Anjaneya 108 names speak of mantras and planets?
How long does an archana with the Sri Anjaneya Ashtottara Shatanamavali take?
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