This Indian Video Now Has 5 Billion Views on YouTube

Music company T-Series' 'Shree Hanuman Chalisa' has become the country's first and so far only YouTube upload to have been viewed over 5 billion times. Fourteen years after it was uploaded, the devotional video has now gone past all Bollywood tracks, Punjabi hits and viral chartbusters.

Released on May 10, 2011, the video features the late Gulshan Kumar, with vocals by Hariharan and music composed by Lalit Sen. Currently, the video stands at 5,008,284,112 views, placing it among YouTube's most-watched creations globally, a position no other Indian upload has come close to matching.

The next closest, the Punjabi track Lehenga, has 1.8 billion views. Hits such as 52 Gaj Ka Daman, Rowdy Baby, Zaroori Tha, Vaaste, Laung Laachi, Lut Gaye, Dilbar and Bum Bum Bole all remain below the 2-billion mark. This leaves the Shree Hanuman Chalisa with a lead of more than three billion views over the second-highest Indian video.

On YouTube's worldwide leaderboard, the top positions are dominated by children's and viral pop videos. Baby Shark Dance leads with over 16 billion views, followed by Despacito at 8.8 billion. Several nursery rhymes and family-friendly tracks, including Wheels on the Bus, Bath Song and Johny Johny Yes Papa, sit above the 7-billion mark.

T-Series chairman Bhushan Kumar described the milestone as emotionally significant. He credited his father, Gulshan Kumar, for dedicating much of his career to making devotional music accessible across the country, as per Mashable India.

Crossing 5 billion views, he said, shows the devotion millions continue to express.

The Hanuman Chalisa is a devotional hymn dedicated to Lord Hanuman, one of Hinduism's most beloved deities and a central figure in the epic Ramayana. Written in the 16th century by the poet-saint Tulsidas, the Chalisa contains 50 verses that praise Hanuman's extraordinary strength, wisdom, loyalty and his unwavering devotion to Lord Rama. Each verse highlights a different aspect of Hanuman's character.