GODS and GODDESSES
Hanuman (Anjaneya) - The monkey-God
Hanuman, the monkey
God is considered Chiranjeevi (will live eternally). He is strong,
full of valour, with various skills and powers. At the same time
, he is wise, a great gnani, a yogi, a brahmachari. He had the one
thought only - that of serving his Lord Rama with utmost humility and devotion.
He is known as Siriya Thiruvadi. He is considered to be an amsam of Lord
Siva.
He is worshipped in the temples as Bhaktha
Hanuman & Veera Hanuman. He is seen kneeling humbly in front
of Rama vigrahmas in the Rama sannadhis. There are also separate
temples for Hanuman. As Bhaktha Hanuman he is seen holding both hands
together in prayer. He is seen as Veera Hanuman, holding the mace
in one hand & the sanjeevi Parvatham in the other.
Devotees are blessed with courage,
valour, wisdom, gnanam. He is very happy when he hears the Rama namam.
Hence repeating the Raama namam is the best way to get his blessings.
His life
Hanuman or Anjaneya is the son of
Anjana Devi. She was once a celestial maiden & was born as a
monkey-woman as a result of a curse. She was living happily with
her husband Kesari. When king Dasaratha performed a yagna praying
for off-springs, he was yielded a pot of payasam (sweet milk/kheer/pudding) from the yaga
fire. His wives shared the prasada & thus Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha
& Shatrugna were born. A portion of this payasam was carried
by the Lord of winds - Vayu Deva & fell in the hands of Anjana Devi
and she gave birth to a lovely & strong son. Since Vayu Deva
was responsible for the payasam reaching Anjana, he is also considered
the father of Hanuman. (Vayu Puthran Hanuman).
He grew up as a strong & mischievous
young lad. He could travel as fast as the wind. He mistook
the glowing sun to be a fruit & flew upto the sky & reached for
the sun. Such was his might & will power even as a child.
Lord Indra was upset & strcuk Anjaneya with his thunderbolt (Vajraayudham).
Vaayu Deva was upset that his son was struck & he stopped blowing.
The whole world was in trouble without winds. All the Gods offered
various powerful boons to Anjaneya, thus making him more powerful &
invincble than before. Vayu Bhagavan was pleased & started his
work again.
Anjaneya was causing trouble to the
rishis & others, not really realising the might of his powerful &
playful actions. The angered rishis curesed him that he would cease
to realise & recognise his powers unless someone reminded him of it.
This calmed him down & he started his lessons with the rishis.
He wanted to learn from Surya Bhagavan who is eternally traveling.
The mighty Hanuman traveled with Surya at his speed and mastered all the
scriptures. As Guru dakshina Anjaneya agreed to serve Sukriva, the
son of Surya. He thus became a trusted and valued minister of Sugreeva,
a monkey king.
He played a major role in the happenings
in Ramayana, the great epic. When Rama was banished from his kingdom Ayodhya
by his mother Kaikeyi, he reached the forests with his wife Sita &
borther Lakshmana. Sugreeva with his army & Hanuman was in hiding
from his brother Vaali. Hanuman met Rama & thereafter was with
Rama forever. When Sita Devi was abducted by Ravana, the demon king,
he flew across the oceans & found Sita Devi in the Ashoka vanam in
Lanka. He consoled Sita Devi and set fire to Lanka, destorying many
asuras. He served as the emissary of peace to Ravana's court.
He assisted Rama in crossing the ocean by building the sethu bridge along
with his vanara friends. During the war he flew to bring the Sanjeevi
mountain, full of medicinal herbs to revive Lakshmana who had fallen.
When the victorious Rama returned to Ayodhya & was crowned king, he
continued to serve him, ever at his service.
He featured in the other epic Mahabaratha.
He stood by the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war. He stabilised and
protected Arjuna's chariot by being present in the flag flying in the chariot.
He was thus honoured with witnessing the Geetopadhesam firsthand.
He is known by various
names
Hanuman - (His jaw & cheek had
gone in when struck by the Vajrayudha of Indra)
Anumandhayya - (in Karnataka)
Aanjaneyalu - (in Andhra Pradesh)
Aanjaneyan - (for he is the son
of Anjana)
Maruthi - ( son of Vaayu - in Maharashtra)
Anumandhan
Vaayunandhan
Kesarinandhanan
Aadhitasishyan
Siriya Thiruvadi (for he was the
vahanam for Rama)
Worship & offerings
Anjaneyar is worshipped with offerings
of butter & Vadaimalai (a garland of vadais). Butter is applied
to the mouth & tail of Hanuman vigrahams in temples. Devotees
pray to the Lord & apply dots of kumkumam to his tail from the starting
point to the tip of the tail to pictures at home.
Some of the Hanuman temples/sannadhis
in India
There are separate temples just
for Hanuman & also separate shrine for him in some of the Vishnu &
Siva temples.
Tirupati
The Hanuman sannadhi is just opposite
the Venkatachalapthi's sannadhi
Sholingapuram
Hanuman temple is situated on a
hill opposite the Narasinga Perumal hill temple. He is Yoga Anjaneyar,
with 4 hands holding the changu, charam.
Suchindram
Suchindram is located 13 kms away
from Kanyakumari, Tamilnadu. There is a huge 18ft high idol of Lord
Hanuman.
A simple prayer to Anjaneya
Asaathya Saadhaka Swaamin
Asaathyam Thavakim vadha
Raama Dhootha Kribhaa Sindho
Math Kaaryam Sadhakka Prabho
Nava Maruti at Sri Vallabaha Maha Ganapati temple is located in Ramnagar, Dindigul
Questions
and answers related to Lord Hanuman's worship (Based on divine knowledge)
Source: Forum for Hindu Awakening
Ashtalakshmi temple, Besant Nagar, Chennai
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