Lord Anjaneya
Lord Anjaneya, also called Shri Hanuman, is one of the gods in Hinduism. He is in fact the favorite God for many Hindu people. According to the Epic Ramayana, Anjaneya played a very important role as he was very helpful in bringing back Devi Seetha, the consort of Lord Rama, from Shri lanka where She had been imprisoned by the demon Ravana.
In legend it is said that this god Anjaneya is none other than the son of Lord Vayu, the God of Wind. It is believed that he would save faithful devotees fromall ill fortunes and tribulations which could be created by the malefic planets. It is trusted that he is as powerful as Lord Vinayaka because latter God is also known for saving devotees from those malefic planets.
Lord Anjaneya has an unique appearance with monkey face and gigantic hairy body. He is always provided with a weapon called Gadayutham on his right hand and some times he appears as he flying over the sky holding sanjeevi hills on one hand and Gadayutham on the other one. In some other pictures this god is shown in a meditating position.
From the history and stories it is understood that lord Anjaneya was faithful follower and devotee of Lord Rama. He served god Rama and his consort Seetha in difficult times. He saved the life of Laxman. There is an interesting story behind it.
Once lord Rama and others were warring against Ravana to rescue his consort Seetha. One day during the war Lord Laxman was wounded and went to unconscious state by the powerful throne hurled by Indrajit, son of demon Ravana. A sage from Rama's side urged to bring a certain medicinal leaves that would be only available only at Sanjeevi Hills to save Laxman.
At this critical situation Lord Anjaneya immediately flew over the sky towards Sanjeevi Hills to bring those medicinal leaves. But, unfortunately He could not identify the required leaves. Then Lord Anjaneya came to a decision to carry the whole Sanjeevi hills on his hand and bring it where Lord Laxman was lying in the serious condition. Then, the sage went through the hills and collected the medicinal leaves and therefore Anjaneya saved the life of Lord Laxman.
Lord Anjaneya is also believed as the incarnation of Lord Shiva. Once Lord Vishnu incarnated to serve Lord Shiva and made him very happy. On seeing his faihful services and love, Lord Shiva decided to reciprocate the same to Lord Vishnu. Lord Shiva pleased to Lord Vishnu to bless an opportunity to serve him in his next incarnation. Thus, the great bakthi of Lord Vishnu on Lord Shiva made the other incarnation of Lord Shiva, Shri Anjaneya.
The Hindu people celebrate and adorn him in all the days of a week. Particularly on Thursdays and Saturdays people decorate him with a garland made of south indian oily recipe called 'vada' which is made of black grams, onions and spices like peppers.
At Sushindram and Nanganallur in Tamil Nadu, India there are famous temples for Lord Anjaneya.
