hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman is a great god. He is a noble hero and great devotee of Lord Rama the Ramayana
This deity is a provider of courage, hope, knowledge, intellect and devotion. He is pictured as a robust monkey holding a mace (gada) which is a sign of bravery and having a picture of Lord Rama tatooed on his chest which is a sign of his devotion to Lord Rama.
He is also called Mahaveera (the great hero ) or Pavan-suta (son of air) or Bajarangbali.
Monkey god of Hindu mythology, a central figure in the Ramayana He was a guardian spirit, the offspring of a nymph and the wind god. His great heroic exploit was recovering Rama wife,Sita, from captivity by the demon Ravana. Hanuman also flew to the Himalayas and carried back a mountain of medicinal herbs to cure Rama’s grievously wounded brother Laksmana. Worshiped in the form of a monkey, he is an important deity because of his strength and his faithfulness to Rama.
In Hindu mythology, the monkey chief and son of vasu, was an ally of Rama in his battle with ravana. His divine nature was very versatile, permitting dramatic changes in shape and size as well as the power of flight. When Hanuman leapt across the sea to Sri Lanka, the stronghold of Ravana, a female demon named Surasa tried to swallow him bodily. To avoid this interception Hanuman distended his body, forcing Surasa to Elongate her mouth enormously, then he suddenly shrank to the size of a thumb, shot through her head, and emerged from her right ear. Landed safely on the island, he dealt the forces of Ravana mortal blows and burned down the capital. For his many services Rama rewarded Hunuman with the gift of perpetual life and youth.
In Buddhist mythology the story of the monkey deity is repoducedi with many embellishments. The most celebrated account of his exploits is found in the Chinese novel Pilgrimage to the West by Wu Cheng-en (1505–80); it tells of Hanuman’s assistance to Tripotaka on his long journey to India in order to obtain the Buddhist scriptures.
