Chalisas

Shiv Chalisa

The Shiv Chalisa is a devotional hymn of forty verses addressed to Shiva, following the same chalisa form as the better-known Hanuman Chalisa: opening dohas, forty chaupais, and a closing couplet.

Where the Hanuman Chalisa is firmly attributed to Tulsidas, the authorship of the Shiv Chalisa is less settled, and it circulates in more than one version. What the versions share is their subject matter. The verses move through the imagery by which Shiva is recognised — the crescent moon in his hair, the Ganga descending through it, the serpent at his throat, the ash on his body, the trident and the damaru — and through the episodes devotees return to, including the swallowing of the halahala poison at the churning of the ocean.

The hymn is composed in Hindi and Awadhi rather than Sanskrit, which places it in the same devotional tradition of writing for ordinary listeners rather than for scholars.

Monday is Shiva's day, and the Shiv Chalisa is read most often on Mondays, through the month of Shravan, and on Maha Shivaratri, when many devotees keep a fast and read it through the night.