Unknown Facts About Hanuman
Hanuman is the only God who has all the positivity and skills of all the Gods combined together.
108 names!
Lord Hanuman has about 108 Names Of Lord Hanuman in Sanskrit language. Apart from that he is also been recognized by other popular names like Bajrangbali, Maruti, Pavanputra, Bal Bheem, Hanumanta, Kesari Nandan and many more.
Hanuman is an avatar of Shiva
Hanuman’s mother Anjani was an apsara in the palace of Lord Brahma and was cursed by a sage that she will turn into monkey face as soon as she falls in love with anyone. Anjani who was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva and was then blessed by Shiva with a promise that he himself will take birth as her son freeing her from the sage’s curse.
With Lord Bramha’s advice and help Anjani took birth on earth hoping to escape the sage’s curse. On earth Anjani falls in love with Kesari ‘the monkey king’ and gets married to him. Later the couple is blessed by a baby boy who is none other than Lord Hanuman himself. Lord Shiva took birth on earth as Hanumant avatar to accompany Lord Ram an ‘avatar of Lord Vishnu’ to defeat evil on earth.
Hanuman the ‘Disfigured Jaw’
In Sanskrit the word Hanuman means the ‘disfigured jaw’. ‘hanu’ means jaw and ‘man’ means disfigured. Hanuman’s jaw was disfigured in his early childhood when he was hit by vajra (thunderbolt) of Lord Indra throwing him back to the earth and leaving him unconscious with a disfigured jaw forever. Lord Indra has to do so as Hanuman was about to swallow the sun thinking it to be a ripen mango. Swallowing the sun would have caused mayhem and would have thrown the entire universe into disarray.
Cursed in his childhood to forget his powers
Hanuman in his childhood was mischievous and would often disturb and tease meditating saints and sages causing a lot of trouble. As he was a kid and was not mature enough to understand and use his powers in the right way the sages decided to lock Hanuman’s powers by a mild curse by which he would simply not remember them. The powers would be unlocked when the time arrives and Hanuman is reminded of it by an intellectual. Hanuman’s powers were unlocked when he was reminded of them by Jambavan as Hanuman was the only one who could fly across the ocean and confirm Sita’s presence in Lanka.
Hanuman had written his own version of Ramayan
We all now that Ramayan was written by Rishi Valmiki. What many people do not know is that there was also another version of Ramayan known as the ‘Hanumad Ramayan’ written by Hanuman himself when in the Himalayas. Hanumad Ramayan was said to be better version of Ramayan than that of Valmiki’s Ramayan. Hanuman destroyed his own version of Ramayan so that people could read Valmiki’s Ramayan and the rishi’s efforts were not wasted.
The Panchamukhi Hanuman
Ahiravan the brother of Ravan kidnapped Lord Ram and Lakshman and took them away to his palace in patal lok in the demon world. The only way to kill Ahiravan was to extinguish all five lamps kept in five different directions in his room; all at once. Hanuman took Pachamukhi (5 faces) avatar to blew all five lamps at once and killed Ahiravan. The five head were Narasimha (part lion part human), Garuda (humanoid bird), Varaha (wild boar), Hayagriva (horse) and Hanuman (the monkey god) himself.
Hanuman applies sindoor all over his body to impress Ram
Upon seeing Sita apply sindoor (vermilion) on her forehead Hanuman once questioned Sita that why does she do so. To which Sita replies that applying sindoor on her forehead indicates that she is Lords Ram’s wife, his companion for life and that she will stand by him in every aspect of life. She further added that it also shows how much she loves Lord Ram and the highest level of respect she has for him.
Thinking upon about what Sita said Hanuman covered his entire body with sindoor as he considered himself to be the biggest devotee of Lord Ram and wanted to show how much he loved and respected him. Upon seeing Hanuman with sindoor applied all-over his body and then understanding his thought behind doing so Ram was very impressed. He blessed Hanuman saying that in future, anyone who worships you with sindoor will be worshiping me as well and that they both will stand by the worshiper as his companions in the time of difficulty and will ultimately free him from it.
Hanuman rejects Sita’s gift
Sita once gifted Hanuman with a mala (chain) made of beautiful pearls. To her utter shock Hanuman broke the mala and starts examining each and every pearl of it very carefully. Hanuman then gathered all the pearls in his hands and returns them back to Sita. Sita who was still in a state of shock asked Hanuman the reason behind his actions. To which Hanuman replied that he accepts nothing that doesn’t have Lord Ram’s name written on it. Upon, further being involved in an intellectual debate with Sita – Hanuman rips open his chest to reveal Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman’s image by which he puts and end to the topic by showing the level of love and devotion he had for them.
Hanuman’s son Makardhwaj
Lord Hanuman was a Brahmchari but had a son called Makardhwaj; born to a mighty crocodile. It is said that after burning Lanka Lord Hanuman took a dip in the ocean to cool his body; the perspiration or a seed or a part of him felt in the mouth of the mighty crocodile and she was conceived giving birth to a child named Makardhwaj.
Ram gives death punishment to Hanuman
Narad Muni known for his mischievous behavior once asks Hanuman to greet all sages except Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra was once a king and so as per Narad Muni he was not a sage completely. Vishwamitra did not react to the unfair treatment given to him by Hanuman but then on further being provoked by Narad Muni he reacts with anger.
Vishwamitra ordered Lord Ram to punish Hanuman to death; Ram being the king had to obey the orders of his guru, so with heavy heart he agrees to execute Hanuman by himself. Ram directs all his arrows towards Hanuman but none of them harm the mighty Hanuman as he kept chanting Ram’s names. Lord Ram then uses Brahmastra but even the most powerful and deadliest weapon failed to act. Seeing the ordeal, Narad Muni intervenes and explains the entire plot to Vishwamitra who immediately ordered Ram to stop Lord Hanuman’s execution.
Ram tricks Hanuman so he (Ram himself) could die
Lord Ram was a mortal incarnation of Lord Vishnu and had to die one day. When the time came and he decided to leave his earthly existence he knew that Hanuman being a true devotee of him simply won’t let Yama (The Lord of Death) take his life. Ram decides to trick Hanuman by asking him to get his ring back which has fallen in the Patal Lok.
Hanuman at once leaves for patal lok to finds Ram’s ring and there he meets the King of Spirits on his way. The King of Spirits tells Hanuman that Lord Ram is no more and asking him to find and collect ring from the patal lok was only a distraction meant to keep him away so that Lord Ram could die and leave earth.
Hanuman teaches arrogant Bheem a lesson
Bheem (from Mahabharat) was strong, courageous and was gifted with unbelievable super powers but was very arrogant and was a show-off as well. To correct his behavior and to lead him on to the right path Lord Hanuman once decided to teach him a lesson.
One day as Bheem was on his way to find flowers in jungle for his wife, he came cross a weak old monkey sleeping right in the middle of his path. Bheem asked the monkey to move his tail aside so that he could crossover. The monkey politely replied back saying that he is too old to move and adviced him to go off the path and crossover from the sides. Bheem being very arrogant disagrees to that and replied back in a rude manner. The monkey then requested Bheem to move his tail aside if he can, to which Bheem agrees. Bheem with all his might tries to lift the old monkeys tail but just couldn’t move it at all.
Embarrassed upon not being to able to lift an old monkeys tail Bheem soon realized his mistake and said sorry to the old monkey asking him to forgive him for his rude behavior. The old weak monkey changed his avatar and Bheem was shocked to see Lord Hanuman himself right in front of him who was there to teach him a lesson.
Hanuman protected Arjun’s chariot in the war of Mahabharat
It is said that the saffron flag displaying Hanuman on Arjun’s chariot was not just a flag but the Lord Hanuman himself. As soon as the war of Mahabharat was over the flag on Arjun’s chariot vanished by itself and the chariot on its own burned down to ashes immediately. Arjun was shocked to see that happen right in front of his eyes. Lord Krishna then explained him that upon his request Lord Hanuman himself protected Arjun and his chariot during the war else in no way the chariot could have survived the deadly weapons used in the war.
