The celebrations have begun, tweeted T-Series
Music label T-Series' Hanuman Chalisa has become the first video from India to cross three billion views on YouTube. The popular rendition of the devotional music recital has been sung by veteran singer Hariharan and features T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar in the video.
The achievement was announced by the official Twitter handle of T-Series. “The celebrations have begun as the devotional music of Hanuman Chalisa has made a home in 3 Billion hearts. Thank you so much for making it the First Indian Video to hit 3 Billion+ views on YouTube!” the tweet read.
Hanuman Chalisa touched one billion views on the platform in 2020 and became the first devotional song on YouTube to do so. Speaking about the milestone, T-Series Chairman Bhushan Kumar said, “People turn to and recite the Hanuman Chalisa during their low phase. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all in the midst of a challenging situation, and the Hanuman Chalisa helps us to deal with pain and hardship and gives us the courage and strength to face problems”. The film producer added that he was overwhelmed with the love the devotional video was receiving.
In 2021, when the video crossed 2 billion views on YouTube, Bhushan Kumar celebrated it by hosting a langar or feast. The event was attended by the T-Series head, his mother, and daughters, Tulsi and Khushali Kumar. Hariharan and composer Lalit Sen also joined the celebrations.
Bhushan Kumar had also held an aarti at a temple to give tribute to his father.
The YouTube channel of T-Series currently has more than 238 million subscribers. According to Statista, a consumer data and market insights company, T-Series is the most followed channel on YouTube.
The channel surpassed the 200-million subscribers mark in December 2021. Reacting to it, Bhushan Kumar said, “We are thrilled to be the premiere Indian YouTube channel to hit such a massive subscriber base”.