Hanumān Patākāropaṇa Vrata

A vrata is a sacred vow or observance kept on a set day. The Hanumān Patākāropaṇa Vrata is the rite of raising a sacred patākā (flag) on Ekādaśī, the eleventh day of the lunar fortnight. It is offered to the Ekādaśa Rudras, the eleven Rudras (forms of Śiva), who were born as the vānaras (monkey-warriors) of Śrī Rāma’s army. It is described in the sixteenth sarga (chapter) of the Manohara Kāṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa.

The rite began as a way to protect a whole community from epidemics. The eleven Rudras came down as vānaras for the special purpose of curing the epidemic diseases that arose from the Samudra-manthana, the churning of the ocean of milk. So raising the flag on Ekādaśī calls on their protection against disease and disaster. They are seen above all in Hanumān, who is a form of Śiva, and so the vrata is named after Hanumān.

The Basis of the Vrata

The Hanumān Patākāropaṇa Vrata is a community rite of protection. It rests on what Chapter 16 reveals: the eleven Rudras were born as Śrī Rāma’s vānara army especially to cure the epidemic diseases that arose during the Samudra-manthana. For this great service they received boons from Brahmā. They keep their power to protect for as long as they are called upon with the proper rites.

The day for this rite is Ekādaśī, the eleventh tithi (lunar day). All through the year it is the regular day of observance for Bhagavān Vishṇu and his devotees. Choosing Ekādaśī for a rite honouring the Ekādaśa (eleven) Rudras is deliberate: the number eleven appears in the day, the eleventh of the lunar fortnight, just as it does in the number of the Rudras.

The Rite

The patākāropaṇa, literally “raising the flag”, includes:

  • Consecrating and raising a sacred flag or banner on Ekādaśī
  • The flag stands for Hanumān’s dhvaja (banner). In the one symbol of their greatest member, it holds the presence of all eleven vānara-Rudras.
  • Pūjā with the twelve names of Hanumān, which are listed in the Hanumān Kavaca of Chapter 13: Hanumān, Añjanā-sūnu, Vāyuputra, Mahābala, Rāmeshṭa, Phalguṇa-sakha, Piṅgāksha, Mitavikrama, Udadhikramaṇa, Sītāśoka-vināśana, Lakshmaṇa-prāṇadātā and Daśagrīva-darpahā
  • Prārthanā (prayers) for the protection of the community from disease, disaster and bhūta-bhaya (fear of harmful spirits)

It is worth noticing that this vrata is for the whole community. It is not only a personal pūjā but a shared call for the protection of a whole community or village.

This vrata belongs to the wider tradition of dhvajāropaṇa (raising a flag), which appears in several kāṇḍas (books) of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, including the Yāga Kāṇḍa’s account of Dhvajāropaṇa. Hanumān’s divine flag, the monkey banner that flew on Arjuna’s chariot in the Mahābhārata, is part of the same tradition. In it the dhvaja is a sacred presence: divine protecting power gathered into a visible sign above a community or a warrior’s chariot.

Sources

  • Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Manohara Kāṇḍa (Book 8), Chapter 16