Johannesburg, Sep 2 (PTI) A prominent Hindu organisation in South Africa has launched a programme to distribute for free one million pocket-sized copies of the Hanuman Chalisa within the next five years.

The launch and distribution of the first 10,000 copies, believed to be the smallest printed edition of the Hanuman Chalisa globally, took place during an ‘Utsav of Devotion' day on Saturday at the Vishnu Temple here.

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“We hosted the event, attended by representatives of over a dozen religious organisations across South Africa, to celebrate spiritual growth, community service, and cultural preservation,” said Pandita Lucy Sigaban, the founder of the SA Hindus.

Niran Singh, the owner of Shereno Printers, was honoured at the event for his company's contributions to the project, which involved a lot of manual work.

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The Hanuman Chalisa can easily fit into a purse or wallet.

“Despite its tiny size, the text is still large enough to be read easily by people,” Sigaban said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)