01Son of the Wind
Jambavan tells his birth in the Kishkindha Kanda. Anjana, an apsara born as a vanari under a curse, was the wife of the vanara Kesari; Vayu, the wind, loved her in his mind, and she bore a son. As a newborn he saw the rising sun, took it for a fruit, and leapt into the sky after it. Indra struck him with the vajra and broke his jaw, his hanu, and he fell. Vayu in grief withdrew his breath from the worlds until Brahma healed the child and the devas gave him boons: no weapon would kill him. The Uttara Kanda adds that rishis whose ashramas he had upset as a boy made him forget his strength until someone reminded him.
02The first meeting
Sugriva saw two armed strangers near Rishyamuka and sent his minister to find out who they were. Hanuman came disguised as a mendicant and spoke to them with such grace that Rama turned to Lakshmana: no one who had not mastered the Rig, the Yajur and the Sama could speak like this; in all his speech there is not one fault. Hanuman took his own form and carried both brothers on his shoulders to Sugriva. When the search parties set out, it was to Hanuman alone that Rama gave his ring, sure that he would be the one to find her.
03The leap to Lanka
Reminded by Jambavan, he grew on Mount Mahendra and leapt the hundred yojanas of sea. The mountain Mainaka rose to offer him rest; Surasa, mother of the nagas, blocked his way, and he made himself as small as a thumb, entered her mouth and came out again; the shadow-catcher Simhika he killed. In Lanka he searched every palace by moonlight before finding Sita in the Ashoka grove. He gave her Rama’s ring, took her chudamani, then tore the grove apart, killed Ravana’s son Aksha, and let Indrajit bind him with the Brahmastra out of respect for Brahma. With his tail set on fire, he burned Lanka.
04The herbs, and the boon
Twice in the war he flew to the Himalaya for the healing herbs, and when he could not tell which they were, he brought the whole peak. After the coronation Sita took off a pearl necklace and gave it to him. In the Uttara Kanda, when Rama prepares to leave the earth, Hanuman asks for one thing: to live as long as Rama’s katha is told in the world.
The Hanuman Chalisa of Tulsidas is recited in millions of homes, above all on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and at the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi devotees offer laddus and sindoor. In the Mahabharata he meets his brother Bhima in the forest and rides on Arjuna’s banner.
Famous verses
दासोऽहं कोसलेन्द्रस्य रामस्याक्लिष्टकर्मणः। हनुमान् शत्रुसैन्यानां निहन्ता मारुतात्मजः॥
Hanuman’s cry in Lanka: I am the servant of Rama, lord of Kosala, whose deeds are never wearisome. I am Hanuman, son of the Wind, destroyer of enemy armies.Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kanda 42.34