Hanuman in Art, Culture, Thought and Literature

Ever since the dawn of civilization in the country, several deities emerged on the Indian religious scene; while some of them vanished into oblivion as suddenly as they had mushroomed, some of them left an indelible impression in the minds of the people and are adored in one form or the other even during the modern times. Hanuman happens to be one such deity. Though scholars have tried to trace the presence of Hanuman in the Vedic literature in the form of Vrsakapi, the Brahma Purana, how-ever, recognizes Vrsakapi to be none else than Hanuman himself. Hanuman, as such however, was introduced by Valmiki for the first time in the Ramayana where initially he had an insignificant role as a minister of Sugriva. His personality indeed got a great boost soon after his coming in contact with Rama and Laksmana, the Ayodhya princes. In fact most of the episodes in the Kiskindha, Sundara and Yuddha Kandas of the Ramayana hover round Hanuman. There, he is presented as an excellent warrior, a devoted servant, a diplomat par excellence, most intelligent person and the one, who possessing all the virtues, could render selfless service to one and all. He never had any aspirations of his own and his entire performance in the epic was dedicated for the service of others. He could perform such heroic deeds, which none else even Rama and Laksmana could do.