The "Modi Chalisa" is a Hindi devotional hymn of forty verses written in praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Its full title is "Bhagwan Shri Narendra Modi Chalisa". It was recited at the Press Club of India in Delhi on 20 August 2026, and the full text is now published on namotemple.org, the website of the people proposing a Modi temple in Patna. This page explains the Modi Chalisa meaning section by section, checks the real events each verse points to, and sets out the debate about hymns for living leaders.

We do not reprint the hymn. It is someone else's composition. We quote only a few short lines, with credit, and summarise the rest in our own words.

Key takeaways

  • The hymn follows the classic chalisa form: an opening chant, two opening dohas (couplets), forty numbered chaupais (verses) and two closing dohas.
  • It moves in order through Mr Modi's life: birth in Gujarat, his mother, the RSS, Gujarat, the move to Delhi in 2014, welfare schemes, the 2016 surgical strike, Article 370, Ayodhya, the G20 and Chandrayaan.
  • The last verses promise the reader devotion to the nation, a spirit of service and freedom from laziness. This "reward for reciting" section is standard in chalisas.
  • Neither namotemple.org nor any report we found names the person who wrote the hymn.
  • Critics say turning a sitting politician into a god disrespects Hindu faith. Supporters, led by proposer Rajan Singh, call it gratitude. In 2015 Mr Modi himself said he was "appalled" by a temple built in his name.

What is a chalisa, and what is this one?

A chalisa is a devotional poem of forty verses. The word comes from "chalis", the Hindi word for forty. The best known is the Hanuman Chalisa. Most chalisas are sung to a deity, in simple Awadhi or Hindi, and end with a promise of what the reader gains by reciting it.

The Modi Chalisa copies this form closely. The version on the NaMo Temple Chalisa page has:

  • an opening chant that pairs "Shri Ram" with "Jai Shri Modi";
  • two opening dohas that bow to Bharat Mata (Mother India) and call Mr Modi the builder of a "new India";
  • forty numbered verses, several of which are the refrain "Jai Jai Modi";
  • a refrain of "Jai Jai Modi, Har Har Modi" between groups of verses;
  • two closing dohas about a developed India, followed by "Jai Bharat", "Jai Bharati" and "Jai Shri Namo".

The page offers a "read along" mode in which each verse lights up in turn. It credits the website to "NaMo Temple" and its developer, but it does not name the poet. NaMo Temple's own explainer, Modi Chalisa Meaning: The 40 Verses Recited at the Modi Mandir, dated 14 October 2026, also does not name a writer. We could not find the author in any news report.

Modi Chalisa meaning: the verses, section by section

The table below maps each group of verses to its theme, the real event or scheme it refers to, and a short fact check. Verse numbers follow the numbering printed on namotemple.org, where the number sits under each couplet. Where the hymn only gives praise or opinion, we say so and do not rate it.

VersesWhat the hymn says (our summary)Real event or schemeFact check
Opening dohasBows to Mother India and asks Mr Modi to work for the nation's good. Calls him hard-working, selfless and the builder of a new India.None. This is an invocation.Praise, not a factual claim.
1 to 3Refrain. Born on the holy soil of Gujarat into a good family. Son of mother Hiraba, a picture of simplicity.Born 17 September 1950 in Vadnagar, Mehsana district. His mother, Hiraben Modi, died in 2022.Correct in outline. The hymn does not name Vadnagar, although NaMo Temple's blog summary of it does.
4 to 6A mind set on service from childhood. Took up "Sangh" discipline and gave up comforts. Gave his body to the motherland.His years with the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). He was introduced to it as a boy and became a full-time worker in Gujarat in 1971.Correct in outline.
7 to 8Became the shaper of Gujarat and opened the road to development. Grew industry and trade and won respect abroad.Chief Minister of Gujarat, 7 October 2001 to 22 May 2014.Dates check out. Gujarat's growth record in those years is praised by some and debated by others. The verse gives only the praise.
9 to 10Came to Delhi in 2014 to cheers. Showed himself as "Pradhan Sevak".Sworn in as Prime Minister on 26 May 2014. In his first Independence Day speech, on 15 August 2014, he called himself the "pradhan sevak", or chief servant.Correct.
11 to 16Clean India campaign. Ujjwala lit every home. Jan Dhan bank accounts for the poor. Ayushman removed health crises. Digital India. Housing gave people a roof.Swachh Bharat (2 October 2014), Jan Dhan (28 August 2014), Ujjwala cooking gas (1 May 2016, Ballia), Digital India (2015), PM Awas Yojana housing (2015), Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY (2018).All are real central schemes. The verses credit Mr Modi personally. In practice ministries, states and banks run them, and how well each one worked is still argued over.
17 to 18When trouble came to the border, he ordered a surgical strike, cut the enemy's pride and raised the soldiers' honour.The Army's cross-border strike of 28 to 29 September 2016, after the Uri attack on 18 September 2016.The strike was announced by the Army's Director General of Military Operations. Pakistan denied it, and some Indian opposition parties at first asked for proof.
19 to 20Removed Article 370 and tied the nation together. The tricolour flies in Kashmir.Special status for Jammu and Kashmir was revoked on 5 August 2019. The Supreme Court upheld the move on 11 December 2023.Correct. Before 2019 the state also had its own flag and constitution. The verse uses the tricolour as a symbol of the change.
21 to 22Lord Ram came to Ayodhya. The Kashi and Mahakal shrines were made beautiful.Ram temple consecration on 22 January 2024, led by Mr Modi. Kashi Vishwanath Dham opened 13 December 2021. Shri Mahakal Lok in Ujjain opened 11 October 2022.Dates check out. The Ayodhya temple followed a Supreme Court verdict in 2019 and is run by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust, with money raised from public donations.
23 to 25Respect on the world stage. The world marks Yoga Day. Self-reliant India and Make in India.The UN declared 21 June the International Day of Yoga on 11 December 2014 (resolution 69/131), on India's proposal. Make in India began in 2014 and Atmanirbhar Bharat in 2020.Yoga Day claim is correct. Mr Modi proposed it at the UN General Assembly in 2014, and the resolution had 175 co-sponsors.
26Chandrayaan reached the sky. Scientific India rose higher.Chandrayaan-3 landed near the Moon's south pole on 23 August 2023.Correct, with context. This is ISRO's programme. Chandrayaan-1 was launched on 22 October 2008, before Mr Modi became Prime Minister.
27 to 32Radiant like the sun. Calm in hard times. Tireless. Set out to end corruption. Gave skills to youth. Made policies for farmers.General governance claims. The farmer verse fits schemes such as PM-KISAN.Mostly praise and opinion. The verse on farmers does not mention that the three farm laws were withdrawn: repeal was announced on 19 November 2021 and passed by Parliament on 29 November 2021, after a year of protests.
33Raised the pride of the G20 and taught the world "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", the world is one family.India held the G20 presidency from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023 and hosted the New Delhi summit on 9 and 10 September 2023, under that motto.Correct. The presidency passes between members each year, so this was India's turn rather than a title won.
34 to 36Removes every obstacle. Worries for the country day and night. Shaping a glorious "Amrit Kaal"."Amrit Kaal" is the government's name for the years up to 2047, the 100th year of independence.Praise, not a factual claim.
37 to 40Whoever reads this with a full heart will feel love for the nation, wake to service and lose laziness. Raise Mother India's honour. May Modi's fame be endless and the country live forever.None. This is the "phalashruti", the promised reward for reciting.A religious promise, not something that can be checked.
Closing dohasKeep the goal of a developed India. May every Indian be happy. May India lead the world."Viksit Bharat", the government's goal of a developed India by 2047.Aspiration, not a factual claim.

Sources for the dates in the table are listed at the end of this page. The verse summaries are ours, made from the Hindi text published on namotemple.org.

A few lines in the original

To give a feel for the language, here are three short half-lines from the hymn as published on namotemple.org, with our plain translations.

"चौदह में दिल्ली पग धारा" (verse 9): "In fourteen, he set foot in Delhi."

"सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक करवाया" (verse 17): "He had the surgical strike carried out."

"जो यह पाठ करे मन लाई" (verse 37): "Whoever recites this with a full heart..."

The language mixes the old devotional style with modern words. English terms such as "surgical strike", "Digital India" and "G20" sit inside metre that copies older hymns. That mix is part of why the hymn drew attention online. It reads like a temple prayer but lists government schemes.

One more point matters. The refrain "Har Har Modi" echoes "Har Har Mahadev", a chant to Lord Shiva. It is not new. It was a campaign slogan in 2014, and it caused a row then (see below).

Where was the Modi Chalisa recited?

The first public reading we know of was on Thursday, 20 August 2026, in a hall at the Press Club of India in Delhi. The Week reported a banner reading "Bhagwan Shri Narendra Modi Chalisa", an aarti before a cutout of Mr Modi, and chants of "Jai Jai Modi, Har Har Modi". That chant matches the refrain on namotemple.org. We have not seen a full recording of the Delhi event, so we cannot confirm that every verse read that day matches the published text.

The Press Club said it had not organised the event and that the hall was booked for a press conference. It stopped the event. Our full report is here: Modi Chalisa at Press Club of India: what happened on 20 August.

The event was led by Rajan Singh, the member of the Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board who proposed the temple. Speaking to NewsGram on 21 August, Singh said the Chalisa "consisted of a detailed description of all the works done by Narendra Modi ji over the years". She also said, "We consider Narendra Modi Ji to be an Avatar of Lord Ram." You can read more about her in our profile of Rajan Singh.

Since the site launched in autumn 2026, the hymn has had a permanent home online. namotemple.org shows it on its home page and on its own page, with a read-along mode, and invites visitors to recite it daily. Its merchandise page also lists a hardbound copy of the Chalisa. We explain the website in our guide to NaMo Temple and namotemple.org.

Why the hymn drew criticism

The objections we found fall into four groups.

  1. Faith. Some Hindus object to praying to a living politician with words and rituals used for gods. The Week quoted a widely shared post that called the event "the systematic degradation of Hindu aastha by turning a sitting politician into a god". Aastha means faith.
  2. Politics. A hymn that lists a government's schemes reads to many people as campaign material dressed as prayer. The verses praise every policy and leave out any that drew protest, such as the farm laws.
  3. The community. Queerbeat quoted another board member, Anupriya Singh, who called the temple Rajan Singh's "personal agenda". An unnamed senior trans activist told Queerbeat that "this kind of thing just defames the transgender community".
  4. The venue. The Press Club said the booking was for a press conference, not a ritual. A club member told Queerbeat, "This is not a place to hold a yagya."

On the other side, Rajan Singh has asked, as quoted by PTI in The Week, "If we want to construct a temple for him, what is wrong with it?" For her and her supporters, the hymn is thanks for legal rights the transgender community gained. Our page on why some in the community want the temple sets out that view in full.

Hymns and temples for living leaders: the wider debate

Praise poems for rulers are old in India. Royal courts kept poets, and inscriptions praising kings survive from ancient times. Temples for living politicians have also been built before, including one for Sonia Gandhi in Telangana; our page on temples for politicians in India lists the main cases. What makes this case stand out is that the poem uses the form of a prayer and calls a sitting Prime Minister "Bhagwan", meaning God.

Two earlier episodes are worth knowing.

  • "Har Har Modi", 2014. During the 2014 election, supporters used the chant "Har Har Modi". India TV reported on 2 May 2014 that the Dwarka Shankaracharya, Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, protested that it amounted to "worship" of a man. The same report says Mr Modi quickly asked his supporters to stop raising such slogans.
  • The Rajkot temple, 2015. When supporters built a temple with his bust in Rajkot, Mr Modi posted on 12 February 2015: "Have seen the news about a temple being built in my name. I was appalled." He added, "Building such temples is not what our culture teaches us." The organisers cancelled the opening, as Daily Excelsior reported. See our page on the Rajkot Modi temple.

We found no comment from Mr Modi, the Prime Minister's Office or the BJP on the Modi Chalisa itself, up to 27 October 2026. So we do not know whether his 2015 view still holds. There is also no law in India that bans writing or reciting a hymn to a living person. The legal questions arise only when public money or public land is involved, as our page on whether a temple can be built for a living person explains.

What we could not verify

As of 27 October 2026, these points remain open.

  • Who wrote the Modi Chalisa. Neither namotemple.org nor any report we found names a writer.
  • Whether the text read at the Press Club on 20 August is word for word the same as the text on namotemple.org.
  • Whether the hymn has been recited in public again since 20 August. We found no news report of a second reading.
  • Whether the hardbound Chalisa offered on namotemple.org has been printed and sold. The site lists it but gives no price.

For more on the reactions, see our politics and reaction topic, and for the proposal itself, our report on the board's 29 July 2026 decision.

Common questions

What does the Modi Chalisa say?

It praises Narendra Modi in forty verses, in order: his birth in Gujarat, his mother, the RSS, his years as Gujarat Chief Minister, the move to Delhi in 2014, welfare schemes, the 2016 surgical strike, Article 370, Ayodhya, Yoga Day, Chandrayaan and the G20. It ends by promising the reader love for the nation.

Who wrote the Modi Chalisa?

We do not know. namotemple.org publishes the text but does not name the writer, and we found no report that does.

Where was the Modi Chalisa first recited?

At the Press Club of India in Delhi on 20 August 2026, at an event led by Rajan Singh. The club said it had not organised the event and stopped it.

Are the facts in the Modi Chalisa correct?

The dates and schemes it refers to are real. But it credits Mr Modi personally for work done by government bodies and ISRO, and it leaves out policies that drew protest, such as the farm laws repealed in 2021.

Sources

Last checked on 27 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us through our contact page.