Lord Hanuman is a strong follower of Lord Rama and is known for her power of humility. He has taken a very important place in Hindu mythology, and his birthday is celebrated as “Hanuman Jayanti.” Hindus worship him as a deity of great power and the ability to vanish evil energies. People believe that they can feel his presence while chanting the “Ram naam” or when they say or hear the stories of Lord Rama.
About Hanuman
Lord Hanuman is the symbol of strength and dedication, and his presence protects us from all the evil power. People chant the Hanuman name and mantras to gain courage and inner peace. Hanuman, in his era, was a very strong person with the power to humungous mountains and took the form of anyone or anything.
His birthday arrives on January 3rd with the ruling star Moola, and he is the eleventh Rudra or the incarnation of Lord Shiva. However, his birthday is celebrated on different days as per the region. Hanuman has the face of a monkey, and he is known as the Monkey God as well.
The Legend behind Hanuman’s Immortality
The story of Hanuman’s immortality is present in the epic Ramayana, in which Hanuman went to Sri Lanka to check on Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Ram. Hanuman visits Lanka and finds Sita sitting in the garden filled with grief. Hanuman informs Goddess Sita that Sri Rama is on his way to save her life.
Hanuman starts to tell Sita all the stories about Sri Rama, but Devi refuses to believe him. She thinks that the Ravana had appeared in disguise to fool Sita, and so she disrespects Hanuman and asks him to leave. To prove himself, Hanuman handovers the ring of Rama to Sita, and then he requests her to believe him.
The minute Devi witnesses the ring of Sri Rama, she becomes joyful and also regrets her idea of not believing Hanuman. In return, she places her hand on the head of Hanuman and calls him Maruti, and blesses him that he will stay immortal till the world exists.
Hence it is still believed that Lord Maruti is still around, and he is chanting Ram Naam every day. Hence people take the opportunity of Hanuman Jayanti to get the blessing from Lord Hanuman in order to get peace, knowledge, power, and strength in life. One surrenders to Lord Hanuman, asking or praying to him to keep them all the troubles of life.
The Birth Story
Lord Hanuman was born to Anjana and Kesari in Mathura, India on the Anjaneri mountain. Anjana was an apsara who was born on the earth due to a curse that; after the birth of Hanuman, the curse was no more. Kesari was the son of Brihaspati, and he was the King of a place named Sumeru.
Anjana started to pray very intensely to Rudra for 12 whole years to get a child. After seeing her devotion, Lord Rudra blessed them with a son. Another story says that Hanuman is an incarnation of Lord Rudra himself.
There is a legend from Eknath’s Bhavartha Ramayana that says that Hanuman is the son of Lord Vayu because, during the intense prayer of Anjana, the King Dasharatha of Ayodhya was also doing the Putrakama pooja to get children.
The sacred pudding was given to three of his wives to help them conceive. One drop of that pudding, however, was snatched by a kite, and it was carried away in the wind, which reached Anjana’s hand, and she consumed it. As a result, Hanuman was born, and since it was carried by the wind, the Wind God Vayu is said to be the father of Lord Hanuman.
Another myth says that during the intense prayer of Anjana, Lord Rudra directed Vayu to transfer the male energy into Anjana’s womb, and hence Lord Hanuman is the son of Lord Vayu.
The next story mentions that Hanuman’s origin from the Vishnu Purana and Narada Purana. Lord Narada fell in love with a princess, and he wanted to visit the husband-choosing ceremony called the swayamvara.
Doubting himself, Narada thought he would change his face into lord Vishnu’s face so that the princess would pick him in the ceremony to be her husband. Hence, Narada went to Vishnu and asked for “Hari Mukh” (here, Hari means Lord Vishnu and also means monkey/Vanara). Vishnu chose to give him the face of a monkey, and Narada did not know this.
When Narada reached the ceremony, the princess started laughing at his face, which embarrassed Narada. Narada became furious and cursed Vishnu, saying that one day he would be very dependent on a monkey to achieve something in life. But after knowing the truth, Narada wanted to take back his curse, but Lord Vishnu stopped him and said that this curse would turn into a boon. Then Vishnu created Hanuman, the avatar of Lord Rudra, who later helped Rama, the avatar of Lord Vishnu, to set the triumph on the demon king Ravana.
