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The epitome of wisdom, devotion, faith, valour, righteousness, and strength.
Hanuman was a white monkey who aided Rama in rescuing his wife Sita from the giant king Ravana. He was born to Anjana (actually a celestial being who, due to a curse, was born on earth as a female monkey) and the wind God Vayu.
Childhood
Hanuman was mischievous in his childhood. As a child, assuming the sun to be a ripe fruit, he once flew to catch hold of it to eat.
Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun to be an all-knowing teacher, accepted him as a student. He moved continuously with his teacher and learned all of the latter's knowledge. When he then requested God Surya to quote his "teacher's fee", the latter refused, saying that the pleasure of teaching one as dedicated as him was the fee in itself.
Meeting Rama
Hanuman met Rama during the 14-year exile in the forests, when Rama was searching for his wife Sita who had been abducted by king Ravana. When Rama introduced himself, Hanuman revealed his own identity and fell prostrate before Rama, who embraced him warmly. Thereafter, Hanuman's life became interwoven inextricably with that of Rama.
Locating Sita
Hanuman reached Lanka and marveled at its beauty. He also regretted that it might be destroyed if Rama has to do battle with Ravana. He found Sita sitting depressed in captivity in a garden and reassured her that Rama had been looking for her, and uplifted her spirits. He offered to carry her back to Rama, but she refused his offer, saying it would be an insult to Rama as his honour was at stake. After meeting Sita, Hanuman began to wreak havoc, gradually destroying the palaces and properties of Lanka. To subdue him, Ravana's son used the Brahmastra. Though immune to the "astra" (weapon), Hanuman, out of respect to God Brahma, allowed himself to be bound by the weapon. Deciding to use the opportunity to meet Ravana and to assess the strength of his hordes, Hanuman let Ravana's warriors parade him through the streets. Ravana ordered that Hanuman's tail be lit. As Ravana's forces attempted to wrap cloth around his tail, Hanuman began to lengthen it. After frustrating them for a while, he allowed it, and then escaped from his captors. With his tail on fire, he burned down large parts of Lanka. After extinguishing his burning tail in the sea, he headed back to Rama.
Lifting Mount Dronagiri
When Rama's brother was severely wounded by Ravana's son during the war, Hanuman was sent to fetch a powerful life-restoring herb from Dronagiri Mountain in the Himalayas to revive him. Ravana realized that if his brother died, a distraught Rama would probably give up. When Hanuman was unable to find the specific herb before night fall, he displayed his might by lifting the entire Dronagiri Mountain and bringing it to the battlefield, thus helping others find the herb. An emotional Rama hugged Hanuman, declaring him as dear to him as his own beloved brother.
Honour
Shortly after being crowned king upon his return to Ayodhya, Rama decided to ceremoniously reward all his well-wishers. At a grand ceremony in his court, all his friends and allies took turns being honoured at the throne. Hanuman too went up, but without desiring a reward. Seeing Hanuman came up to him, an emotionally overwhelmed Rama embraced him warmly, declaring that he could never adequately honour or repay Hanuman for the help and services he received from the noble monkey.
Sita insisted that Hanuman deserved honour more than anyone else and asked him to seek a gift. Upon Hanuman's request, Sita gave him a necklace of precious stones adorning her neck. When he received it, Hanuman immediately took it apart and peered into each stone. Taken aback, many of those present demanded to know as to why he destroyed the precious gift. Hanuman answered that he looked into the stones to make sure that Rama and Sita were in them, because if they were not, the necklace was of no value to him. At this juncture, a few mocked Hanuman, saying his reverence and love for Rama and Sita could not possibly be as deep as he was portraying. In response, Hanuman tore his chest open and everyone was stunned to see Rama and Sita literally in his heart.
After reigning for several years, the time arrived for Rama to depart to his heavenly abode. Many of Rama's entourage decided to depart with him. Shunning the heaven, Hanuman however requested to remain on earth as long as Rama's name was venerated by people. Sita accorded Hanuman that desire and granted that his image would be installed at various public places, so he could listen to people chanting Rama's name. He is one of the immortals.
Hanuman had five faces, each of which was:
Facing east, granting purity of mind and success.
Facing south, granting victory and fearlessness.
Facing west, removing black magic and poison.
Facing north, showering prosperity, wealth.
Facing sky, giving knowledge and good children.
Symbolizing the pinnacle of devotion, Hanuman is the epitome of wisdom, devotion, faith, valour, righteousness and strength. His indispensable role in reuniting Rama with Sita is likened to that of a teacher helping an individual soul realize the divine.
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