 Hanuman’s thoroughness in the execution of his duties assigned to him earned the admiration and respect of Rama. He took Hanuman into his arms and clasped him to his breast. Overwhelmed Rama says, “By finding Seetha and saving her, you saved my Raghu Vamsan (my race) from extinction. You brought back to life my dear brother. I have nothing to give you than myself ”. Saying so he embraces Hanuman. Upon hearing these words Hanumanji stood by Rama in all humility with hands joined together in front of his mouth and head slightly bent, in the pose of service to
Rama.
So long as a lotus flower is in water and faces the sun, it opens its petal and blooms. But, when the same flower is plucked and cast aside, it loses its power to bloom. So it is not possible to blossom in life without the help of an Acharya or teacher, to direct us along the right path. Without that help, even God cannot come to our rescue. It is necessary to hold Acharya’s feet with both our hands to have his blessings.
There is an interesting story narrated to drive home the importance of the Acharya or Guru. Once a merchant had to go on business to a distant land, leaving his pregnant wife behind. Twenty years fly by with no news of the merchant’s whereabouts or about his return. The wife begets a boy who grows up and takes up his father’s trade. There comes a time when the boy has to leave home on business. Destiny brings the boy to the same place where his father was conducting his business. Unaware of their relationship, they get into an altercation. Each one charges against the other with drawn swords. At this moment, an onlooker who knew that they were father and son intervenes and explains their relationship and avoids a disaster, bringing both of them together. This is how the Jeevatma united with the Parmatama with the help of the Acharya who guides us to the right path.
 Hanuman is a super human character in speech and deed. He is quite learned, very intelligent and extremely devoted. It was he who brought about the reunion of Lord Rama and Seetha. In search of Jeevatma Seetha, Paramatama Rama went to Mithila and made Jeevatama a part of himself. Here Jeevatma, unable to overcome the mortal desires of acquisition and possession of the golden deer, becomes a prey and gets separated from the Paramatama. Without our knowledge desire corrupts our mind and leads us to wrong actions and entangles us in sin. If only Jeevatama had been able to overcome these mundane desires and had not fallen for the golden deer, she would not have been abducted by the ten headed Ravana. Unable to bear the separation caused by its own folly, the Jeevatama goes through undesireable agony. Having lost its beloved Jeevatma, the suffering of the Paramatama is no less. At this juncture appears Acharya Hanuman. He completes successfully the noble task of uniting the Jeevatama with the Paramatama.
In both the great epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata many have played vital and leading roles but none of them gets the pride of place in temples. It is only Hanuman who becomes adorable and his temples compare well with other celebrated deities like Rama and Shiva. He is the only Divine Soul that enjoys the privilege of being garlanded with ‘Vadais’, called Vadai Malai in Tamil. Why is it that he gets so much respect, reverence and obeisance?
Hanuman was blessed with superior and profound knowledge by Surya Bhagawan, his guru. But can we accept that his wisdom was superior to that of Pithamaka Bhishma? Bhishma, who was lying on the painful bed of arrows could pour forth so many words of wisdom on Dharma? There was no topic on Dharma that he did not touch upon. Then why it is only Hanuman who gets the pride of place in a temple?
 Talking of bravery and courage, Hanuman during the war between Rama and Ravana, not only successfully defends his army but every time there developed a crisis, it was he who diffused it. He exhibited his extraordinary valor in overcoming and vanquishing the powerful Ravana. Bhishama, who exhibited his renewed and extraordinary courage, in the battle field against the Pandava on the ninth day, excited to fury by the demeaning way in which he got slighted by Duryodhana the day before, was no lesser in valor than Hanuman. It is his wisdom and tact that persuaded Lord Krishna who had otherwise vowed not to take up arms against Kauravas, to go against his determination and go to battle. But Bhishama has not given a pride of place in temples.
No doubt, Hanuman is a great devotee of Lord Rama. He always regarded himself as a servant of Lord Rama. He does not want to love Rama from an equal level and is more than satisfied at being ever below his Lord. It is for this reason he is considered to be the example of Bhakti or Devotion. How strange! Five year old Prahalada was as great a lover and devotee of Lord Narayana but he is not worshipped in temples.
What is this quality that makes him so adorable that he has temples everywhere? It is his unselfish service to Rama and Mother Seetha. A devotee in trouble runs to the Almighty with extended hands imploring his assistance, and cries “Hey Prabhu, you are there to help us when we need you. But, when you are in grave trouble to whom will you turn for help?” Hanumanji provides the answer to this entreaty. Although Lord Ram is the Supreme Lord Almighty yet when incarnated in human form he suffers agony and afflictions in his mortal frame. It was Lord Hanumanji who came to Lord Rama’s rescue. Also he was the one and only one who received the hearty blessings of Mother Seetha Devi for his unselfish service.
 The raw idols of Lord Hanumanji, as found in most of the temples, have red paste invariably covering the idol. There is an interesting story connected with the paste. Once greatly taken up by the beauty of the ‘Sindoor’ adorning Seetha Devi’s forehead, he asked her with great curiosity, the reason why she used it all the time. Seetha replied, “Sri Rama is extremely fond of this Sindoor. By adorning myself with this, I feel that I make myself worthy of his love and affection.” The next day when Rama met him he found Hanumanji was smeared all over his body with Sindhoor. Amazed at this new queer adornment, he asked him fondly, “Why this sudden make up?”. Hanumanji replied, “ How much you love to see this Sindoor on Seetha Devi, thereby winning her life long affection. As for me I’d also consider it my great fortune and blessing to be your devoted slave all my life, worthy of your constant, never fading affection”. It is said that since that day Hanumanji’s idol invariably covers his body with this holy paste.
By the constant chanting of Ramanama, we can imbibe his qualities making ourselves a Rama on earth. Hanumanji is a living example of this. After reaching Ayodhya and assuming the kingship, Lord Rama gave a precious pearl necklace to Seetha with the freedom to gift it to anyone, who had the privilege of enjoying her respect and affection. Seetha chose to gift it to Hanumanji who is a living example of Rama’s qualities. Hanumanji floated on a sea of Bhakthi, not like a dead-body, but like an expert swimmer controlling all his forces to seek just one aim, to coalesce with the personality of his chosen Lord.
When Lord Rama decided to quit his mortal frame and go to the Supreme Realm, he called Hanumanji to go with him as he had become an integral part of his life. But Hanumanji retorts saying, “ In Vaikundam there will be neither Ram nor Ramayana with chanting of your name, so I’d rather be here enjoying the benefit of both.” But while Hanumanji stayed behind Paranthana in Vaikundam could not bear the separation from his arch devotee Hanumanji. Mother Goddess also agonizes with him. Ultimately to save himself from his agony, he decides to come down to the “Govindraja Perumal” temple to take his abode with Hanumanji, also known as Maruthi in Thillai or city of Chidambaram, abode of the dancing Nataraj. A well known poet of Tamil Nadu, Kulasekara Alwar describes the unified pair thus ‘Thillai Nagar Thiru chitra Koodam thannil thiral villakku Maruthyodu Amarnthaan.’ ‘Thillai Nagar’ is Chidambaram, ‘Thiru Chitra Koodam Thanil’ is a beautifully carved hall, ‘Thiru villakku Maruthi’ is Hanumanji, the light of his life, ‘Amarnthaan’ is where he took his abode. A feeble attempt to explain what the poet wants to express.
 Hanumanji possesses certain attributes which no other god seems to possess. He can fly at will and enhance and decrease the size of his body according to the need of circumstances. In Lord Vishnu’s incarnation as Krishna, we have come across Sri Krishna assuming the Vishwaroopam or growing to an unimaginable height, to Arjuna. But in Rama Avatar only Hanumanji assumes Vishwaroopam several times. They say that in some temples the small idols of Hanumanji appear to grow in size.
Although it is not possible to pin-point the year or age of such mythological characters, yet traditional belief is that Hanumanji was born on Amavasya, the new moon on Moola star, between December 15th and January 15th of the Hindu calendar. The day is celebrated as the ‘Hanumath Jayanthi’ all over Tamil Nadu.
This great Divine Soul, arch devotee of Lord Rama, the very Sundara Hanuman, son of Anjana Devi, is believed to be present in the modern Kaliyuga. He whom we revere, to this son of Vaayu, Anjaneya, with total devotion and unflinching faith, has all his works accomplished easily by the grace of Lord Hanumanji, who is always at the Lotus feet of Lord Rama, Mother Seetha, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughan. Let us pray to this great and divine soul.
Shri Ram Thoodam Manasa Smaraami
Shri Rama Jayam
My sincere thanks to Mrs. Rama Doraiswamy, my sister, Mr. Ranjan Tandon, and Ms. Vandana Chak who have helped in presenting this English version of my article Sundara Hanuman to reach a wider circle of readers.
(concluded)
Shantha Krishnamoorthy
A Tamil version of this article was first published in
Thendral - a Tamil magazine for Tamils living in North America.
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