Essay on Lord Hanuman: Article, Short Notes, Summary, Biography (:P)

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Essay on Lord Hanuman: Article, Short Notes, Summary, Biography (:P)

Introduction [Essay on Lord Hanuman]

Out of the 33,000 Gods that exist in the Hindu Religion, Hanuman remains to be the most worshipped and remembered one. Regardless of how educated or how much of an agnostic a person is, the one God that every Hindu remembers when faced by imminent danger, is Lord Hanuman.

Known to rush to the help of his devotees, Hanuman never thought of himself as a god, rather he saw himself as the most faithful servant and devotee of Ram. An incarnation of Vishnu, he is known to be all powerful and strong. A Brahmachari, his main motive in life was to serve Ram and live peacefully. Hanuman has been mentioned in a lot of Hindu texts, not only the Ramayana.

Uncovering the history- Hanuman

Hanuman is said to be the son of Vayu, the wind God, which is from where he got the ability to fly. He was really powerful and as a child was known for his mischiefs. The monkey king’s antics although cute had now begun to be irritating. The entire world was troubled by his naughtiness and therefore he was cursed to not remember any of his powers until he was older.  He is also a pretty popular in the Ramayana, where he helps out Ram in bringing Sita back home. Hanuman is sent first into Lanka to bring back intel, he faces a lot of trouble there but gives more trouble than what he received. He burnt down the city of Lanka when they set his tail on fire. He got about an entire army of monkeys to help Ram in his quest. In addition to that, when Laxman was hurt in the final battle, Hanuman was sent to bring a herb back from the Himalayas, but not knowing which one to get, he carried the entire mountain back to Lanka. This depicts the strength and dedication Hanuman had in serving Ram and his family.  There are also many images of Hanuman, wherein he is opening his chest and there is an imagery of Ram and Sita; this is also symbolic of his devotion to the godly duo.

Essay on Lord Hanuman: Article, Short Notes, Summary, Biography (:P)

In addition to the Ramayana, he is also mentioned in other texts like the Mahabharata- where he is the half- brother of Bhima. His mention can also be found in Buddhist, Jain and Sikh texts. There are a lot of people who are exclusive Hanuman Bhakts and have built temples in his name. The oldest known independent Hanuman statue and temple is at Khajuraho, which dates back to 922 CE. The worshippers of Hanuman, keep a partial or full fast on Tuesdays and Saturday of every week, as they are seen to be auspicious days.

Specialties of Hanuman

As is obvious, Hanuman is an integral part of the Ramlilas that happen in India. Ramlila is a dramatic folk re-enactment of the story of Ramayana or the Ramcharitmanas. These are mostly staged during the auspicious time of Navratri. In addition to this festival, another important event is the Hanuman Jayanti which is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Hanuman. This festival is celebrated in the month of Chaitra (March-April) and in places like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it is observed in the month of Margazhi (December-January). This festival is observed by Hanuman devotees making their way to the temples before sunrise and then they engage in a day long spiritual recitations and story-telling about the victory of good over evil.

A very important text related to Hanuman, withholding the Ramayana, is the Hanuman Chalisa. It is a devotional song dedicated to Hanuman, written by Tulsidas who also claimed to have had visions of Hanuman where he was told about the Ramayana and wrote the Avdhi version- the Ramcharitmanas.

Conclusion

Even today, the Hanuman Chalisa is well known to everyone and is the first thing that is uttered when faced with any trouble. Chanting the Chalisa or Hanuman’s name is supposed to bring him to your rescue.

So next time you are in some sort of problem, you know which God to call upon.

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