Hanuman Phad Painting
After Rama Phad painting, I felt that it needed an accompanying piece. This Hanuman Phad painting stemmed from that. Plus, Rama and Kewat’s story left me wanting to share another mythology story. Since a young age, I have loved Indian mythology stories and stories of kings and queens from long ago. I diligently collected Amar Chitra Katha comics which were famous for Indian mythological content. And Tinkle or chandamama for Panchatantra and Jataka tales. Every time we went by train anywhere, dad would buy me a comic from the stalls on the train platform. Over many years, I amassed a large collection of these comics. I kept them very safely and re read them often. My dad encouraged this passion of mine, he would take a stack of 8-10 at a time and get them bound together at his factory. I absolutely loved my comics. I was not very good at sharing them. Even when my brother or ma took them to read, I would keep hovering, watching how they turned the pages, if they opened it too wide stretching the binding seam, and if they kept it down to read later, I would immediately sneak the book back to my bookshelf. On dad’s insistence one time, I lent 4-5 bound volumes of my precious comics to my cousins and that was the last I saw of them. And I am not sure what happened to the rest after my marriage, I could still cry thinking of them.
When my kids came around, I restarted a collection for them, bringing heavy books and comics on Indian Mythology from India in suitcases. The kids and I would the comics together and talk about the things and stories in them. Even though they are grown up now, we all enjoy our family discussions on Indian mythology stories, so many stories to know and share!
Hanuman is the personification of dedication and devotion. He is singularly renowned as Rama’s greatest devotee. I am sure you are all aware of the many entertaining stories fo Hanuman, and I am sharing a couple of them.
Hanuman was the son of the Vayu god (God of wind) and Anjana, an apsara of the heavens who due to a curse was descended to earth as a human. In one of the most well known stories, Hanuman when a restless and adventurous child, once believed the sun to be a ripe mango and rushed off to grab it. At the same time, Rahu (a Vedic planet) was also pursuing the Sun at that time for a scheduled eclipse, and Hanuman beat him in order to reach the Sun first. This angered Lord Indra, who struck Hanuman with a thunderbolt. Hanuman fell back to the earth, unconscious, and also damaged his chin, leaving a permanent mark on it. This incident angered Vayu, his father, who sucked out all the air from the universe. When all the humans and animals began to struggle for air, Lord Indra withdrew the effect of his thunderbolt, and revived Hanuman. To pacify Vayu, Hanuman was also blessed by other gods with multiple boons.
Brahma provided Hanuman with the irrevocable Brahma’s curse, which ensures no one would be able to kill him with any weapon in war. He also blessed with the power of inducing fear in enemies, destroying fear in friends, and to be able to change his form to travel anywhere. Shiva blessed with the boons of longevity, scriptural wisdom, and the ability to cross the ocean, and also gave a band that would protect him for life. Lord Varuna blessed him with the boon of immunity from water. The Lord of Fire, Agni Dev, blessed him with the protection of burning by fire. Surya Dev gave him two blessings of yoga “laghima” and “garima”, using which he can attain the smallest or the largest form respectively. The God of Death, Yama, blessed him with the boons of health and immunity from weapons, thus securing him completely from death. Kubera, the treasurer of the Gods, blessed him with eternal happiness and satisfaction. Kamadeva, the Hindu God of love, blessed him to be free from lust, thus declaring him to be a celibate. His father also blessed him with even more speed. Hanuman then became of student of Surya, and acquired a great deal of knowledge from him.
Here’s another story I like:
After the defeat of Ravana and the war of Lanka, Hanuman went tot he Himalayas to spend some time. During his time there, he would with his nails carve the stories and incidents of Lord Rama on big rocks and the mountain faces. Around the same time, Maharishi Valmilki was penning down the Ramayana. Someone told Valmiki that he should go check out Hanuman’s telling of the Ramayana. Upon seeing Hanuman’s work, Valmiki felt both joy and sorrow. Joy because he had had the chance to see exceptionally beautiful poems and stories of Rama, and sad because it overshadowed his work. When Hanuman saw the unhappiness his work had caused Valmiki he smashed the engraved rocks destroying his creation forever. This was one of the innumerable sacrifices that Hanuman made in his lifetime, which made him immortal. For him, narrating the tales of Rama’s adventures was a way of re-living the experiences and remembering the Lord’s good deeds, and not for fame.
Hanuman's name illustrates his self-effacing character, being made up of 'Hanan' (annihilation) and 'man' (mind), thus indicating one who has conquered his ego.