15 Unknown Facts About Lord Hanuman, The Symbol Of Strength And Energy

Lord Hanuman is one of the most worshiped deities in Hindu religion. The Lord is celebrated for his courage, strength, and the divinity of his protection. His legendary tales are well documented in Ramayana and was one among the central roles in this mythology. A loyal disciple of Shree Ram, Our Bajrangbali was a naughty one as a child and was blessed by the Gods to possess supreme powers. Our knowledge of Hanuman comes from most of the retellings of Ramayana or modern TV series but His godliness is mentioned in other texts including Puranas, Jain texts, the Mahabharata and so on.

A presence so extraordinary has a life that is much more astonishing, and so we bring you some lesser-known interesting facts from the life of Lord Hanuman.

1. Pawanputra Hanuman was an incarnation of Lord Shiva

There are various version of the story and various dialogues but the birth of Hanuman was enabled by a curse on a celestial angle (Apsara), a boon from Lord Shiva and the God of wind, Vayu. The son of Kesari and Anjana, Hanuman is known as Pawanputra (Son of Wind). The deed was fulfilled by Vayu but the course of nature had set for Shiva to be a loyal companion to Rama during his rule. Thus, Hanuman was born.

2. Hanuman was not Lord’s birth name

The name was coined to describe the disfigurement of Lord’s jaw after he was stuck by Indra’s thunderbolt. As a child named Maruti, the Lord miss took Sun to be a ripe fruit in his hunger and went with all his vigor to grab it. This angered Indra who stuck the child with Lighting bolt. This left the child with an injured cheek and jaw.

Hanuman is derived from the word Hanumat of Sanskrit. Hanumat is joining of a word and a suffix. Hanu or Hanoo means Jaw and Mat becomes the suffix. So, Hanuman means one who has swollen or disfigured jaw.

3. Lord Hanuman had five bothers

Brahmanda Purana verses 223 – 227 states that Anjana and Kesari had in total five sons of which Hanuman was the eldest. The names of Lord Hanuman’s sibling in order of their birth are Matiman, Srutiman, Ketuman and Drtiman.

In the Mahabharata period, Pandu and Kunti son Bhima have also been called as brother of Hanuman Ji.

4. The colour Red/ Orange of Lord’s idol

Once Lord Hanuman observed Sita adorning vermilion on her forehead and asked why is this part of her daily rituals. For which Sita explained that Sindoor (vermilion) is a representative of Shree Ram’s long life, her love and respect for her husband. The adherent devotion towards Shree Ram propelled Lord Hanuman to cober his body completely with Sindoor. Impressd with the deed of Hanuman Lord Rama granted a boon that those who will worship Hanuman with sindoor in future would see all their difficulties go away. And this is why temples represent Lord Hanuman’s Idol in Vermilion colour.

5. The Brahmachari Lord had a son Makardhwaja

Lord Hanuman was a Brahmachari (celibate) and yet he fathered a son named Makardhwaja. It is said that after burning Lanka with his fire lit tail he dipped his tail in the sea to cool off. There the sweat from his body was ingested by a fish and Makardhwaja was concieved.

6. Lord Hanuman’s presence in Kurukshetra war

Lord Hanuman was present in form of his featured flag on the chariot of Arjuna as he led into the battle field of Kurukshetra. This was done as a reverence to Lord Krishna who is one among the Dasha Avtaar of God Vishnu, same as Shree Ram. Lord Hanuman’s presence granted the chariot and its inmates with protection and as soon as the battle was won, and Hanuman regained is original form, the empty chariot reduced to ashes.

7. Lord Hanuman first hand heard the preaching’s of Bhagavad Gita

As the Lord was harboring on top of Arjuna’s chariot in form of the flag, it is believed that he was among the only four who first hand heard Bhagavad Gita preached by Lord Krishna. The other three being Arjuna, Sanjaya and Barbarik.

8. Lord Hanuma’s scripture of Ramayana

It is said that Lord Hanuman too documented his version of Ramayana on walls of the cave he resided in. And his version of the story was much more splendid and glorious than that of Valmiki’s. As Lord Hanuman scripted it just to relive the events and remember his Shree Ram, he discarded his version to aid Valmiki’s poem of Ramayana.

9. Panchamukhi Hanuman

It is said that Lord Hanuman took form of Panchamukhi (The Five-Headed) to kill the demon king of Patala (netherworld) who had kidnapped Rama and Lakshmana. On the mission of rescuing them, Hanuman learned that to kill Ahiravana you need to extinguish five candles, in which the demon king’s soul reside, at the same time. So, Lord Hanuman morphed in Five heads:

• In center was Hanuman.
• In south Narasimha, a lion’s visage
• In west Ahiravana, an eagle’s head (Garuda)
• In north Varaha, head of a boar.
• Facing the sky was the Hayagriva, head of a horse.

10. Lord Hanuman has 108 names in Sanskrit

The Ashtottara Shatanamavali (collective names) of Lord Hanuman has 108 names in Sanskrit, including Anjaneya, Hanumanta, Mahavira and so on.

11. Lord Hanuman is immortal

In Hindu texts there is mention of eight Chiranjivis (immortal beings) and Lord Hanuman is one of them. It is said that he will walk this earth chanting Shree Ram’s name and stories until the end of Kaliyuga.

There are some notable religious reformers who believe to have seen Lord Hanuman in their life time, including Madhvacharya (13th century CE), Tulsidas (16th century), Samarth Ramdas (17th century), Raghavendra Swami (17th century) and Swami Ramdas (20th century).

12. Lord Hanuman is viewed as a protector

Lord Hanuman was blessed by Goddess Kali to be at her her dwara-paal or gate-keeper as a protector and guard. And Lord Shani blessed Lord Hanuman with a boon that any who worships Lord Hanuman would see end of their troubles. And these two reasons stem the belief of invoking Lord Hanuman would help fight against any sorcery.

13. Lord Hanuman the scholar

Lord hanuman is revered for his strength and power but it’s very few who know that Lord Hanuman was an erudite scholar. He received his education from the Lord Surya (Sun God). He was well versed in all the Hindu texts including Vedas, Tantra and so on. Tantriks believe Lord Hanuman was mighty accomplished in this field as the Lord had had supremacy in eight occult powers, those being:

• Anima – The power to reduce one’s size.
• Mahima – Aptitude to increase one’s size.
• Laghima – The prowess to become weightless.
• Garima – Ability to increase weight.
• Prapti – The gift to travel anywhere and obtain anything.
• Parakamya – Mastery over will power.
• Vastiva – Mastery over all creatures.
• Isitva – Godliness of being able to create and destroy.

14. The Surya Namaskara (salutation to the sun), was devised by Hanuman

It is hardly unbelievable with the agility and strength Lord Hanuman poses to acknowledge the fact that the Lord was a Yogi. He was the inventor of Surya Namaskar (sun salutation) which was a way of greeting his teacher, Surya Devta. And the Lord was the first to teach Pranayama to the mankind.

15. Lord Hanuman a master Singer

In the Narada Purana, Lord Hanuman is described as a master vocalist. It was a boon given to him by Narad Muni.

Hope these intriguing facts on Lord Hanuman gave you an added depth of view on the Lord’s legends.