HANUMAN TAYANTI : The Birthday Of Hanuman

Later in the month, the full moon of Chaitra brings Hanuman Jayanti, the birthday of Rama's greatest devotee and chief of the monkey army which fought Rama's war with Ravana, the demon king of Lanka.

The legend relating to Hanuman's birth is interesting. Dasharath, the king of Ayodhya had three wives- Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. None of them had any children. So the king performed a homa or havan to pray for progeny. As a reward, Agni, the fire god, gave him three portions of payas, a sweet which his queens would eat and then conceive divine children.

When each of the queens received her share, Kaikeyi dropped hers by mistake and the payas was blown away by Vayu, the wind god. He dropped it into the willing hands of Anjani, a she-monkey, who ate it. She gave birth to the powerful Hanuman or Anjaneya (because he is Anjani's son), who leapt to catch the shining sun in the sky. The sun, chased into the firmament by this divine power, gave Hanuman golden garments which could be seen only by Rama and enable him to recognise his greatest devotee.

Kaushalya and Sumitra gave half of their payas to the grieving Kaikeyi. In fulfilment of the boon granted by Agni, the queens in the course of time, gave birth to Rama, Lakshmana, Bharat and Shatrughna. The latter two were t\vins, born to Kaikeyi who had received two halves of the payas. Each of these four princes of Ayodhya were born of half portions of the heavenly payas. Hanuman was the child of a full share. Many scholars of the Ramayana believe Hanuman to be a more powerful deity than even the great Rama.

Hanuman is a symbol of health, physical strength and steadfastness. One of the most loved deities of Indians, he is worshipped in small temples in every village. The stories of his innocent and total faith in Rama are sagas of devotion and loyalty.

[Above] Elephants are most auspicious to all celebrations in India. The Pooram festival of caparisoned elephants is a spectacular pageant.