Who is Hanuman?
Hanuman is the great devotee and messenger of Rama in the Ramayana. Son of the Wind god and of Anjana, he is strong, wise and faithful. He leaps the ocean to Lanka, finds Sita, gives her Rama's ring, and later brings the healing herb that saves Lakshmana. The Hanuman Chalisa opens with two dohas; its forty verses in his praise then begin by hailing him as an ocean of wisdom and virtue. Many people pray to him for strength and courage, often on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Some traditions also see him as a form of Shiva. His birth is kept as Hanuman Jayanti, on different days in different regions.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed.
Reading with a child? Stories for children: Hanuman Leaps for the Sun (ages 7-10), Hanuman Finds Sita (ages 7-10).
What the schools say
Valmiki's Ramayana
In Valmiki's Ramayana, Hanuman is a counsellor of the monkey king Sugriva. When the search for Sita stalls at the sea, the old bear Jambavan reminds him of his birth as the son of the Wind and of his strength. Hanuman leaps to Lanka, finds Sita in the grove, gives her Rama's ring as a token, and brings back her message. Here he is a hero of courage, wit and loyalty.
Sources for this reading
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Ralph T. H. Griffith, vol. IV: Books IV and V (London: Trübner; Benares: E. J. Lazarus, 1873) (Book IV, canto III (Rama calls him “The counsellor … Of King Sugriva”, p. 8), canto XXXIX (Jambavan, king of the bears, pp. 192–193), canto XLIV (the ring given as a token, pp. 217–218) and canto LXVI “Hanuman” (pp. 271–275); Book V, cantos I, XXX–XXXVIII (pp. 279–288, 348–370; the ring, canto XXXVI, pp. 362–363) and LXV “The Tidings” (pp. 410–411); summarised in our words)
Tulsidas and the bhakti tradition
For Tulsidas and the devotional tradition of North India, Hanuman is the perfect servant of Rama. The Hanuman Chalisa calls him “Ram dut”, Rama's messenger, a home of strength beyond compare, and recalls how he brought the sanjivani herb and Rama embraced him with joy. It closes by asking him to dwell in the heart with Rama, Lakshmana and Sita. For his service to Rama he is upheld as a model of devotion.
Sources for this reading
Hanuman as a form of Shiva (Deccan tradition)
Some traditions hold that Hanuman is a form of Shiva. Enthoven's Folklore of Bombay (1923) records that in the Deccan, where Maruti (Hanuman) is the chief village god, he is held to be an incarnation of Shiva, and that the number eleven is sacred to him because he is believed to be an incarnation of the eleven Rudras. The Hanuman Chalisa itself calls him “Sankar suvan”, son of Shankara (Shiva), and also the son of Kesari.
Sources for this reading
- Hanuman Chalisa, chaupai 6
- R. E. Enthoven, The Folklore of Bombay (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923), chapter V, “Hanuman or Maruti”: “Maruti is considered to be an incarnation of Shiva” (p. 188); the number eleven sacred to him as “an incarnation of the eleven Rudras” (pp. 189–190). Enthoven died 1952 (Wikipedia, “Reginald Edward Enthoven”, 1869 – May 21, 1952): public domain. Title page, leaf n5, “Oxford at the Clarendon Press 1923”. Checked on the page images (leaves n192–n194). (pp. 188–190 (leaves n192–n194))
Regional traditions
Regions keep Hanuman's birth on different days. Much of North India keeps it on the full moon of Chaitra; Telugu families keep a later day in Vaishakha; in Karnataka many keep Hanuman Vratam on the thirteenth day of the bright half of Margashirsha; Tamil and Malayali families keep it in the month of Margazhi (Dhanu); Odia families keep it at the solar new year. Pujadeep shows the day for each tradition and city.
Sources for this reading
- Wikipedia, “Hanuman Jayanti” (read October 15, 2026): Chaitra Purnima in most northern states; Vaishakha in the Telugu states; Margashirsha Shukla Trayodashi in Karnataka; the month of Dhanu (Margazhi) in Kerala and Tamil Nadu; Pana Sankranti, the Odia new year, in Odisha. Cited for the regions only; every date comes from the Pujadeep calendar.
- Festival guide “Hanuman Jayanti” in this library and the Pujadeep calendar rules hanuman-jayanti, hanuman-jayanti-telugu, hanuman-vratam, hanumath-jayanthi-tamil and pana-sankranti.
Sources
- Hanuman Chalisa, chaupai 1
- Hanuman Chalisa, chaupai 11
- Hanuman Chalisa
- W. Crooke, The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, new edition, vol. I (Westminster: Archibald Constable, 1896), “Hanuman”: Hindu wrestlers' patron deity; “Tuesday is sacred to Mahâbîr” (Hanuman), and the wrestlers' rite is held to give “strength and courage”. Crooke died 1923: public domain. Summarised; the book's own theories of origin are not repeated. Checked on the page image (p. 87, leaf n110). (pp. 85–87 (p. 87, leaf n110))
- R. E. Enthoven, The Folklore of Bombay (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923), “Hanuman or Maruti”: “Saturday is the sacred day of the monkey-god Maruti” (p. 188); worship “on Tuesdays and Saturdays” (p. 189); Hanuman “known for his loyalty to his master and for his bravery”, and Maruti “the god of strength” (p. 189). Enthoven died 1952: public domain. Checked on the page images (leaves n192–n193). (pp. 188–189 (leaves n192–n193))
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Hanuman” (son of a nymph by the wind god; reminded of his powers by Jambavan, king of the bears; the mountain of healing herbs). Read in the Wayback Machine copy (snapshot July 2, 2026). Cited, not copied.
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Source and licence
- Our explanation
- Written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against them. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the sources listed, October 15, 2026.
- Updated
- October 27, 2026