Hanuman
Hanuman is the monkey devotee of Rama in the Ramayana, worshipped by Hindus for strength and devotion. He carries a mace, and is shown flying, kneeling before Rama, or opening his chest to show Rama and Sita in his heart.
Meaning
The Hindu American Foundation calls Hanuman one of the most popular divinities in the Hindu pantheon, the personification of dedication and devotion, whose oldest story is in the Sanskrit Ramayana of the sage Valmiki. He is one of the Vanaras, a race of intelligent monkey warriors who ally with Rama and his brother Lakshmana to rescue Sita. He is often shown kneeling with folded hands before Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, or pulling open his chest to show Rama and Sita where his heart should be. The Hanuman Chalisa, the devotional hymn by the poet Tulsidas, describes him: “In your hands, shine a mace and a flag of righteousness.” A Chola bronze of about 1000 in the Cleveland Museum of Art shows him as a humble servant bowing to his master, made to be bathed, dressed and carried through the streets with images of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana on festival days.
Origin and history
Hanuman is the son of the wind. In a common telling, the Hindu American Foundation says, the Vanara Anjana prayed to Shiva for a son, and Shiva sent his power through Vayu, the wind god, into her womb; so Hanuman is the son of Vayu, and for that reason many hold him to be an avatar of Shiva as well, a view not every Hindu school accepts. As a child he leapt at the sun, thinking it a fruit, and was struck down by Indra’s thunderbolt; his name, the foundation explains, comes from the broken jaw (hanu) he got in the fall.
His greatest errand came in the war in Lanka. A tenth-century Khmer sculpture in Cleveland shows him flying with an antidote in his raised right hand, to save Rama and his brother from a poison that had left them paralysed and dying; the antidote comes from the Himalayas, and his left hand is raised in the gesture meaning “Fear not!”. The Chalisa sings of the same deed: “Bringing the magic-herb (sanjivani), you revived Lord Laxmana.”
The mace and the mountain
The Hanuman Chalisa gives him a mace and a flag of righteousness. The mountain in the drawing here is for the herb he fetched from the Himalayas and for his strength: the Cleveland Museum says he is able to fly through the air and lift mountains.
Hanuman’s open chest
The image of Hanuman tearing open his chest is his devotion made visible. The Hindu American Foundation describes him pulling apart his chest to reveal Rama and Sita where his heart should be, and the Chalisa says the same in words: Rama, Sita and Lakshmana dwell forever in his heart. He is said to be present, the foundation adds, wherever Rama’s story is being told.
Hanuman Jayanti and the Chalisa
Hanuman Jayanti honours him as one who gives safety and victory against evil. On the day, the Hindu American Foundation says, devotees visit temples, make offerings and recite the Hanuman Chalisa in hope of invoking his strength. His strength is invoked in other places too: by practitioners of kushti, the traditional wrestling of the Indian subcontinent, and in yoga, where his leap across the ocean to Lanka gives its name to Hanumanasana, the splits.
Read next
- Next in Hindu deities and their symbolsDurgaDurga is the Hindu Mother Goddess as a warrior, worshipped at Navaratri and Durga Puja for her victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura. She rides a lion or a tiger and holds the gods’ weapons in her many hands.
- The same shape in Andean and Inca symbolsViracochaThe creator god of the Andes, who in the stories made the sun and moon at Lake Titicaca, called the peoples out of the land, and walked away into the sea. The Incas took him into their own pantheon, and an Inca emperor took his name.
See also
Rama, Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Murugan, Vishnu.
Sources
- 5 things to know about Hanuman (Syama Allard, Hindu American Foundation), Syama Allard, “5 things to know about Hanuman”, Hindu American Foundation, 2021, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- All about the Hanuman Chalisa (Hindu American Foundation), “All about the Hanuman Chalisa”, Hindu American Foundation, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- Hanuman Jayanti (Hindu American Foundation), “Hanuman Jayanti”, Hindu American Foundation, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- Monkey General Hanuman (1980.26, Cleveland Museum of Art), Monkey General Hanuman, c. 1000, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980.26, collection description, Cleveland Museum of Art, Description
- Flying Hanuman (1987.43, Cleveland Museum of Art), Flying Hanuman, 900s, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1987.43, collection description, Cleveland Museum of Art, Description
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from circles or triangles.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research
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