The Legend of Hanuman: A Loyal Devotee of Lord Rama

An embodiment of perfection, he defined unwavering loyalty, exemplified power and resilience in service and manifested wisdom and purity in his being. Pawan Putra, Lord Hanuman born to Anjana and Kesari was named Maruti during his birth. Defensively attacked by Lord Indra with Vajra, the thunderbolt weapon when Maruti ate the sun perceiving it as a ripe fruit caused his jaw to be disfigured, naming him Hanuman.

There have been many tales related to Maruti’s birth, some say that after his parents committed worship to Lord Shiva, he was born as the Lord’s incarnation removing Anjana’s curse of being a vanar. Other versions suggest that while the yagna was performed for the birth of Dashrath’s sons, his wives received a sweet. A morsel of that was snatched by a bird who dropped it in the palms of Anjana. Consuming it, she gave birth to Lord Hanuman. 

Lord Hanuman met Lord Rama, his deity in the forests of Rushyamukha Parvata. It was when Lord Hanuman was searching for Goddess Sita that he was reminded of his true powers by Jambavan. As a child with both curious innocence and mischievous vim, Lord Hanuman troubled the sages in penance and meditation. Foreseeing his abilities that shaped the future, the sages couldn’t give him a rigorous curse but decided to give a mild one. It meant that he would forget his powers until someone reminded him of them. Jambavan finally reminded him of these powers upon realising that only he could cross the ocean in search of Goddess Sita. 

From burning Lanka, finding Goddess Sita, being the loyal messenger of Lord Rama during his life and after that, building Ram Setu and lifting the entire Dronagiri mountain in his pursuit of finding Sanjeevni, are namely incidents proving his unmatchable strengths, perspicuous judgements and unswerving persistence. 

Bajrangbali Hanuman, this name has its own tale. Lord Hanuman’s curiosity was answered coherently by Goddess Sita when he asked her why she applied sindoor. She further told him this was for Lord Rama’s healthy and long life. On realizing this, Lord Hanuman covered his entire body in Sindoor. ‘Bajrang’, meaning orange, emphasizes the colour of Sindoor. This beautiful tale has been carried forward and the Lord is still worshipped with Sindoor and so many of his idols are tinted in orange. Vajra meaning ‘diamond’ and ang meaning ‘body’, gives another perception to his name. 

Beyond just Lord Rama being a visit to his thoughts, the Lord also resided in every purpose of his actions. To defeat Mahiravana who had abducted Rama and Lakshmana, he manifested the Panchmukhi form to extinguish five lamps in different directions at the same time. Knowing this was the only way to establish triumph, both his valour and wisdom proved success. 

From opening his chest when he couldn’t find the portrayal of the divine couple in Sita Ji’s gifted necklace to him chanting ‘Ram Naam’ unceasingly when he was being shot with arrows by Lord Rama have been spectacular moments of his diligence. Lord Rama had fired arrows at him when a misunderstanding was created between Lord Hanuman and Guru Vishvamitra. 

Lord Hanuman had written his own version of Ramayana but giving importance to Valmiki’s version and effacing the sage from any insecurities, he sacrificed his version into the sea. 

Even beyond Ramanaya, it is said that he was present during the war, strengthening and protecting Arjun’s chariot. His reflection has been noticed on the flag of Arjun’s Chariot. The learned almighty was one of the only few people who had heard the Bhagavad Gita directly from Lord Krishna. 

A portrayal of sacrifice, power, service, knowledge and determination summed up the being of Lord Hanuman who is still believed to be blessing the Indian soil and his worshippers as Chiranjeevi.