The Story of Hanuman

Hanuman is one of the most popular god worshipped across India. What makes him easily distinguishable from other gods is that he is always depicted as a monkey smeared with saffron powder or paste. People who are not familiar with the Indian culture get puzzled that why are people worshipping statues and paintings of a monkey.

In this post I will covering the story of Hanuman, how was he born, why is he worshipped all over India and share some interesting stories related to him.

How was Hanuman born?

There are several stories linked to the birth of Hanuman but the version which is most widely accepted is the one linked to Anjana eating the sacred pudding created for the birth of Ram.

The story starts when king Dasharath conducts a grand ritual to please the gods so they bless him with powerful sons to rule his vast kingdom after him. Once the ritual is complete the sacred offering of a sweet pudding which was blessed by the gods was given to the three queens of the king. While it was being served to the queens a piece of the pudding is snatched by a Kite who flys away with it and drops it over a dense jungle. Anjana a monkey was worshipping Vayu the god of wind in the jungle. The moment Anjana concludes her worshipping the piece of sacred pudding lands on her hands. She considers it a blessing from Vayu and eats it.

The eldest of sons born to king Dashrath grows up to be Ram and Anjana’s son is Hanuman. As their births are linked so do their destinies get intertwined once they grow up. After the demon Ravan kidnaps Ram’s wife Sita then Hanuman plays a key role in finding and rescuing Sita.

As Hanuman was born after his mother consumed the sacred pudding he was born with immense power and also was blessed by Vayu who was worshipped ardently by Hanuman’s mother.

Why did Hanuman try to eat the Sun?

One of the most famous stories linked to Hanuman during is childhood is when he attempts to eat the Sun. One morning when Hanuman was just a toddler he was jumping around the trees and eating fruits. Suddenly the rising Sun which was bright red in color caught his attention. He thought it was a huge mango and jumped towards it thinking it will be sweet and juicy inside. When Hanuman got very close then Sun got really scare and asked for help to Indra who was the king of all Gods. Indra saw Hanuman approaching Sun at a great speed and quickly took out his Vajra which was the most powerful divine weapon. When Indra struck Hanuman on his face with the Vajra it made Hanuman unconscious and he fell back on the Earth. Seeing this Vayu got filled with rage and stopped air all across the world and this meant that all forms of life on earth will end in a few moments. Realizing the gravity of the situation all the Gods approached Vayu and tried to calm him. Indra realized his mistake and gave the boon to Hanuman that his body will become stronger than the Vajra so no divine weapon will be able to harm him.

Yama the god of death offered him the boon that he will be Chiranjeevi which means he will never die and live through all the ages. Bramha gave him special powers called Siddhis through which Hanuman could alter his size and become as large or small as he wanted.

After looking at the boons granted to Hanuman by the Gods the anger of Vayu subsided and life on Earth returned to normal.

It is believed that it was destined that Hanuman will receive all these boons from the Gods and become very powerful so he will be able to help Bhagwan Ram in his pursuit of Sita and help Ram defeat the demon Ravan.

Why are Statues of Hanuman smeared in Saffron paste?

If you have visited any temple dedicated to Hanuman you would have surely noticed that his idol is always smeared with a saffron colored paste. This paste is made of Sindoor which is a powder used by married women in India to wish for a long life for their husbands.

There is an interesting story about why Hanuman is worshipped by applying Sindoor. Once Hanuman noticed that Sita was applying a pinch of Sindoor in the form of a bindi on her forehead. Hanuman felt curious and asked Sita what was she doing. Sita replied that she applies Sindoor on her forehead everyday to wish for a long life of Ram. Hanuman said that then this is an amazing thing if it gives a long life to Ram. Hanuman was an ardent devotee of Ram and said that why are you applying such a small quantity of Sindoor. We should apply large quantities of it to make the life of Ram even longer. He took the box containing Sindoor and applied it all over his body and became bright red or saffron colored all over. Due to this story devotees of Hanuman apply sindoor on his idol when they visit his temples.

Om Namah Shivay!