Hariharan recalls when Pushkar temple priest almost touched his feet: 'Hanuman Chalisa se hum din aarambh karte hai'

Hariharan, known for his memorable songs, shares his humbling experience of being revered at Pushkar temple for his Hanuman Chalisa.

Legendary singer Hariharan has sung many memorable songs, such as Tu Hi Re, Ay Hairate, and Johnka Hawa Ka. However, in his five-decade career, one rendition that always humbles him is the Hanuman Chalisa. In a recent interview, the singer recalled an interesting incident about visiting the Pushkar temple, where the priest almost touched his feet to pay him respect for singing the bhajan. (Also read: India's highest-paid musician just earned ₹25 crore for one album; beat AR Rahman, Arijit Singh, Pritam, Diljit Dosanjh)

Hariharan says the love the audience has given to his rendition of Hanuman Chalisa has always humbled him.

Hariharan talks about the love he has received for Hanuman Chalisa

In a podcast with Radio Nasha, the interviewer mentioned that the Hanuman Chalisa sung by Hariharan has more than 4 billion views on YouTube. Acknowledging the love he has received for singing the bhajan, Hariharan said, "I am amazed to see people's devotion. It humbles me. I once visited Brahma's only temple in Pushkar, and the priest there folded his hands in pranam and nearly touched my feet. I asked him, 'Maharaj ji, aap kya kar rahe hai (what are you doing)' and he said, 'Aapke Hanuman Chalisa se hum apna din aarambh karte hai' (We start our days with your Hanuman Chalisa)".

"So anywhere I go, North or South, people tell me, 'Sir, we listen to your Hanuman Chalisa'. It is such a big blessing for me. Every time someone listens to it, he/she would keep me in their prayers. It is the biggest thing in India," Hariharan added.

Hariharan talks about working with AR Rahman

The singer also talked about his working experience with Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman. The two have collaborated on many memorable films like Roja, Bombay, Taal, Guru and Rangeela, to name a few.

Calling him ‘raat ka raja’ (king of the night), Hariharan humourously said, “He used to like working at night and sleep by day, so I always used to tell him, to inform me one or two days in advance so that I could catch up on my sleep in the day and can get acclimatised to your working style. It was fun working with him. He always got the best out of me. He created that comfort zone for me.”