HANUMAN

in Hindu mythology, the divine monkey chief, a central figure in the great Hindu epic the Ramayana (Romance of Rama). Hanuman is the child of a nymph by the wind god; accompanied by a host of monkeys, he aided Rama in recovering his wife, Sita, from the demon Ravana. His heroic exploits are many. He acted as Rama's spy in the midst of the demon's kingdom; when he was discovered and his tail set on fire, he burnt down their city, Lanka. Hanuman flew to the Himalayas and carried back the mountain of medicinal herbs to restore the wounded among Rama's army. He crossed the strait between India and Sri Lanka in one leap. A beneficent guardian spirit, he is worshiped in the form of a monkey with a red face, who stands erect like a human. Temples in his honour are numerous. In his devotion to Rama, Hanuman is upheld as a model for human devotion to god, an attitude beautifully depicted by South Indian bronze sculptors. He is also a popular deity in Japan, where many temples are erected to his honour and districts of towns bear his name. The hanuman monkey (Presbytis entellus), one of the most common Indian monkeys, is named after the god and is thus generally looked upon as sacred.