Hanu
man ob
tained h
is m
agica
l po
wers
There was a long time ago, a monkey boy was living in India. His nam
e was
Hanum
an. His father was Vayu, the god of the wind, and his mother was a
beautiful princess.
Although Hanum
an was very small, he was very naughty and had magical pow
ers.
This is the story of one of his amusing adventures. It begins in the beautiful
valley of flowers.
One day Hanum
an was sitting next to his mother and felt the warm rays of the
sun.
Han
uman
loo
ked a
t th
e s
ky a
nd saw
the s
un.
“I lov
e the sun
! It is so
beau
tifu
l, so
war
m, so
gol
den
and shin
y! I
'd tak
e it an
d
play
with it, jus
t like
it’s
min
e!” sai
d the little
child
.
So
Han
uman
str
etc
hed h
is a
rms to
war
d the s
un. He too
k it in
his h
ands an
d b
ega
n
to thro
w it up
and
dow
n like
a b
all.
The s
un d
id n
ot seem a
t al
l pl
eas
ed a
nd s
tart
ed b
eco
min
g an
gry.
The sun called Indra, the god of thunder and lightning, who at that time, was
travelling through the sky on his magic elephant.
“Indra help! Look at what this naughty child is doing to me! Help!”
Indra saw what Hanuman was doing, and was very upset. Suddenly the sky
darkened and the storm clouds began to gather.
“Put the Sun in its place immediately!” said Indra loudly.
“No” said Hanuman who did not seem frightened by the fury of the god.
So, the angry Indra threw lightning that hit Hanuman and left him unconscious.
Zaap!
Hanuman fell down, and there he lay. His father Vayu, who was flying over land,
had a feeling that Hanuman was in danger.
He quickly returned to the valley of flowers and found his small son lying on the
ground with eyes closed.
“Who did this to my son?” He shouted desperately at the sky hoping to find an
answer.
The god of the wind was furious and threw strong winds and storms around the
world, until one day the air stopped!
“I will make the air stop, and stop running everywhere, until my little Hanuman
breathes again!” Vayu said.
That was really bad for everyone. The plants, animals and people quickly began to
feel very weak, fainted and died, because they had no air to breathe.
When Indra, the god of thunder and lightning saw everything that was happening
to the world, he felt very sad.
“Anger is a terrible thing. None of this would have happened if I had not
bothered. Vayu, I ask for your pardon,” he said.
Mean
while, Vay
u, had
led small Han
uman
into th
e earth
, co
oing
in his arm
s. Ind
ra
called oth
er go
ds, so toge
ther th
ey beg Vay
u to return the air to th
e world.
“No, not until H
anum
an bre
athes ag
ain!” Vay
u said.
Then th
e god
s prom
ised to re
store life to Han
uman
. They also
said that when he
grew up, he wou
ld have m
agical pow
ers.
He cou
ld be as large or as small as he wan
ted; his tail wou
ld be m
agical and
cou
ld
fly th
roug
h the skies. H
e wou
ld lead
an army of
mon
keys and
live as long
as he
wished.
“The thun
der an
d lightning co
uld neve
r hurt him
,” said Ind
ra.
“The fire can
neve
r touc
h him
”, said the Sun
.
Vay
u, the f
ather of
Han
uman
, was
now
very
hap
py a
nd k
ept
his w
ord. The a
ir
bega
n to
run
aga
in. The p
lant
s, a
nimal
s an
d p
eop
le c
ame to
life
.
“What
hap
pene
d to
us?”
they
aske
d a
s th
ey
coul
d n
ot remember an
ythin
g!
Eve
ryth
ing
was
don
e a
s pr
omised to
the g
ods. H
anum
an g
rew to
be the m
ost
fant
astic
mon
key
in the w
orld
. He lived in
a hug
e, gr
een
and b
eau
tifu
l fo
rest
.
Sug
riva
, th
e k
ing
of the m
onke
ys, hear
d a
bou
t Han
uman
and
his m
agic
al p
owers
.
He w
ent
int
o th
e w
oods
to f
ind a
nd tal
k to
him
.
“Cou
ld y
ou b
e m
y best
friend
and
lead
my
army?
” Sug
riva
ask
ed.
“Sur
e,” H
anum
an sai
d.
And
fro
m that
day
onw
ards, the two
were
alw
ays
toge
ther.
The abduction of Princess Sita
At the other end
of the forest, there lived a handsome prince called Ram
a and
his beautiful, intelligent wife nam
ed Princess Sita.
The news ab
out her beauty spread
all across the territory.
On an island called Lanka in South Ind
ia, lived an evil and envious devil, who had
ten head
s and twenty arms. His nam
e was Ravana.
“I'll have to marry Sita even if I have to steal her!” Ravana boasted.
Ravana sent his evil demon disguised as a golden deer to distract the prince Ram
a.
Ram
a departed to the woods to get the deer for his beloved wife Sita.
As so
on a
s Ram
a was
away
, Rav
ana
went
in
sear
ch o
f Sita
and w
ith a
terr
ifyi
ng
roar
cau
ght Sita
with h
is twent
y ar
ms. H
is e
vil pl
an w
as to
keep
Sita
prison
er
until sh
e a
grees to
mar
ry h
im.
Sita,
on
bein
g ca
ptur
ed, has
man
aged to
remov
e h
er je
welry
as q
uick
ly a
s po
ssib
le
and thre
w them to
the g
roun
d a
s sh
e f
lew thro
ugh the a
ir tra
pped in
the a
rms
of
Rav
ana.
“I real
ly h
ope that
som
eon
e w
ill fi
nd these
gems an
d b
ring
them to
my
hus
ban
d
Ram
a,” th
ough
t Sita
For
tuna
tely
, th
e jewelry
fell
just
where
Han
uman
and
Sug
riva
were
.
“The G
ods
mus
t be send
ing
gift
s!” Han
uman
sai
d.
“Whos
e jewels a
re these
?” S
ugriva
won
dere
d.
And
so
the two
frie
nds went
int
o th
e f
orest
to
solve the m
yste
ry.
Meanwhile, Prince Rama, had returned home and was looking for his beloved wife
Sita.
“Where did she go?” Rama thought while looking through the woods.
Hanuman and Sugriva found the prince wondering into the forest calling for Sita.
“Sita! Sita!” Rama cried.
“Who is Sita?” asked Hanuman.
“Sita is my wife, She has disappeared.” said Rama.
“So I see. Perhaps these gems belong to her.” said Hanuman.
“These are Sita’s gems!, Where is she? And who are you?” Rama asked anxiously.
“I am Hanuman and he is King Sugriva. We will help you find her.”
“Thank you. We have to find her.” Rama said
Hanu
man go
es in search of Sita
Han
uman
fle
w sou
th. H
e k
new that
Sita
was
tak
en
to the c
ity
of L
anka
by
the
demon
Rav
ana.
So
Han
uman
gre
w b
ig a
nd s
tron
g an
d w
ith o
ne b
ig jum
p st
arte
d f
lyin
g th
roug
h the
clou
ds
towar
ds th
e c
ity
on the islan
d.
While f
lyin
g ov
er th
e o
cean
, his s
had
ow w
as seen
by
a te
rrib
le sea
mon
ster.
“Grr
rr! I
'm v
ery
hun
gry
and w
ant to
eat
!” sai
d the m
onst
er.
Then
the h
orrible
mon
ster op
ene
d its
mou
th a
nd s
wal
lowed H
anum
an.
“Oh! O
h!” H
anum
an thou
ght as
he s
lid d
own
the thro
at o
f th
e h
ideou
s mon
ster.
Hanum
an landed with a great THUMP! and
sud
denly realized he was sitting on
something very soft. He looke
d dow
n and found
himself sitting on a bed!
Hanum
an was floating inside the stomach of the sea monster, and
then he began
to look around
in the dark. He saw
pieces of m
asts and
ships that had
lost long
ago.
He also saw ske
letons and
a variety of things that the m
onster had
swallowed.
“I need to leave,” though
t Hanum
an looking around
.
Then he had
a great idea!
Hanum
an became as sm
all as he could, and flying into the stomach of the m
onster,
tickled the sides. The monster began to squirm and
move due to laughter.
“Hoo, Hoo, Ha, Ha! stop it please! I
am really tickled and
if I laughed a lot, I'm
going to sneeze
!” said the m
onster, while laugh
ing hillariously!
But Hanum
an continued tickling, and
the monster could not contain itself.
“I think, I think I'll ... Ahhh, Ahhh, Chooooo!” the m
onster sneeze
d.
The monster opened its big mouth and
sneeze
d thinking Hanum
an was supposed to
be inside.
It was too late because he had
shot out and
flew to the city of Lanka.
When Hanuman went to Lanka he saw many demons guarding the palace walking
everywhere.
Some were fat, some thin, some were beet red, some were yellow banana and
others were cucumber green. They were all ugly, nasty and grumbled as they
walked.
“Oh no!” Hanuman thought as he watched them while sitting on the walls of the
Grand Palace.
Hanuman was still very small. Taking advantage the darkness of the night he
managed to slip past the guards without being seen.
When he was inside the white marble city, he began searching for Sita in all
rooms in the great palace of Ravana.
Han
uman
bega
n se
arch
ing
in the d
ining ro
om of th
e p
alac
e, in the k
itch
en, in th
e
corr
idor
s, b
ut cou
ld not
find S
ita. H
e sud
denly hear
d a very
lou
d sou
nd, like
thun
der.
The sou
nd w
as com
ing
from
a roo
m that
had
a lar
ge golden doo
r. H
anum
an cra
wled
slow
ly thro
ugh a cra
ck b
elow the d
oor an
d fou
nd R
avan
a sleeping
in a bed, sn
oring
with h
is ten head
s at
onc
e.
“Grr
rr G
rrrr
-phew-p
hew!!!” he thou
ght.
Han
uman
was
sur
e that
Sita was
not
there
.
Hanuman found Sita very sad and depressed sitting outside the palace in a
beautiful garden. The demons guarding the garden have fallen asleep.
He slipped through one of the branches of a fruit tree.
“Psssst!” Hanuman said. He was waving to get her attention!
Sita looked up and was surprised to see him.
“Who are you?” asked Sita.
“I am Hanuman. I've been sent by Rama to find you, now I shall go back to tell
him that I found you and then come back to rescue you.” Hanuman replied softly.
“Oh thanks! But you must be very careful; Ravana is not only very powerful but
also very clever.” Sita replied, a little more cheerfully.
Jus
t th
en
one
of
the
de
mon
s gu
ard
ing
Sit
a aw
oke
.
“An
atta
cke
r w
ith
us!
Th
e o
the
r gu
ard
s m
ust
capt
ure
!” S
he
cri
ed
.
Th
ey
ran
to a
ttac
k H
anum
an,
but
he
sud
de
nly
be
cam
e v
ery
big
and
str
ong,
sto
od
in t
he
mid
dle
of
the
gar
de
n. H
e p
luck
ed
tw
o tr
ee
s w
ith
th
eir
roo
ts a
nd a
ll, a
nd
be
gan
to r
otat
e i
n al
l d
ire
ctio
ns t
o ke
ep
the
de
mon
s aw
ay.
Wh
en
Rav
ana
he
ard
wh
at H
anum
an w
as d
oing
, h
e w
as f
urio
us. A
te
rrif
ying
wra
thfu
l so
und
was
he
ard
, fr
om h
is t
en
he
ads
shou
ting
at
the
sam
e t
ime
!
“A m
onke
y d
oing
all
th
at m
ess
in
my
gard
en!
Se
nd m
y so
n to
cap
ture
it
and
bri
ng
it t
o m
e i
mm
ed
iate
ly!”
Rav
ana
scre
ame
d.
Rav
ana'
s so
n w
as t
o fu
lfil
l th
e o
rde
r of
his
fat
he
r. H
e b
ega
n to
sh
oot
arro
ws
wit
h
snak
es,
but
th
ey
coul
d n
ot h
urt
the
mig
hty
ape
-man
, H
anum
an.
Fire!
Hanum
an had
a brilliant idea.
“Maybe I shou
ld talk face
to face
with Ravana,” he thou
ght. H
e became small an
d
allowed to be cap
tured by gu
ards in ord
er to be tak
en to Ravana.
“Please free Sita,” Hanum
an begg
ed.
“Never!” grow
led Ravana.
Several demon
s, grabbed the tail of H
anum
an to tie, but then his tail bega
n to
grow
and
grow lon
g, getting long
er!
“Foo
ls! Catch
his tail and keep it stead
y!” he cried! F
inally, th
e guard
s manag
ed to
place the tip of th
e tail in fire. The fire cou
ld not hurt his tail because his
mag
ical pow
ers kept it pe
rfectly coo
l.
Sud
denl
y, H
anum
an h
ad a
noth
er gr
eat
idea!
I thin
k I c
an p
ut m
y bur
ning
tai
l to
goo
d u
se!
He b
ega
n to
gro
w a
gain
big
, ve
ry b
ig, bre
akin
g th
e rop
es th
at b
ound
him
. W
ith a
sing
le leap
, he f
lew int
o th
e a
ir.
He tur
ned h
is shin
ing
tail a
nd it lo
oked lik
e a
hug
e b
all of
fire! He f
lew a
bov
e the
city
of
Lan
ka, an
d set fire
on
all ro
ofs.
“Oh, how
I h
ate that
mon
key!” Rav
ana
said
fur
ious
ly.
He b
ega
n to
shak
e h
is twent
y ar
ms with a
wild rag
e, while H
anum
an d
ived int
o th
e
sea.
Sss
ssss
ss ....
Hanum
an flew back to where Prince Ram
a was, to tell what has hap
pene
d.
“Everyth
ing yo
u say sounds very interesting, but how
it is assum
ed that we rescue
Sita?” aske
d Ram
a
Hanum
an answered, “D
o no
t worry. King Sug
riva have a whole arm
y of m
onke
ys
and tog
ether we will help to rescue
Sita.”
They th
en set off towards the sou
th of Ind
ia, when suddenly, they came across a
large oce
an.
“How
to cross?” Ram
a aske
d worriedly.
“We will build a bridge
across th
e large
oce
an.” H
anum
an replied.
And
so, using
large
rocks and
trees, H
anum
an and
his m
onke
ys built a large
bridge
. Hanum
an too
k Ram
a on
his shou
lders to cross the sea to Lanka
.
Meanwhile Ravana, who had
sent his son
, lead
ing th
e arm
y of demon
s, was waiting
vigilantly and
read
y for battle.
The Great Battle
The battle was extremely fierce! The horrible and disgusting demons, firing
spears and arrows with poisonous snakes.
Ram
a fought bravely, while Hanum
an, from
the top of a mountain throwing rocks
into the terrible demons.
Suddenly King Ravana, with his twenty arms came into battle, cutting, pushing and
fencing like a great whirlpool. Whenever the arrows of Ram
a hit one of the heads
of Ravana, it is immediately replaced with another head!
The demons were increasing their attack at the arm
y of Ram
a.
“This is not good, Hanum
an. H
ow will we rescue Sita?” said Ram
a.
“Hah! Fools! They're all fools! Sita will never return, because we will win the
battle!” Ravana scoffed.
Hanum
an approached Ram
a and whispered in his ears that Ravana's weakness is
his foot. There is only one sure way to kill him, with a magic arrow
that he has
hidden in his palace.
Ram
a turned to look at Hanum
an, but he has alread
y flow
n towards the palace of
Ravana in search of the magic arrow
.
Hanum
an returned and
told Ram
a, “Here you go, hope it works.”
“It's our last chance.” Ram
a said while he tensed his bow
with the magic arrow
.
Ravana is getting closer, breathing fire and
smoke from ten noses and twenty
ears. Ram
a took hold and
shot:
ZIN
G-!
The arrow
flew straigh
t to the foot of Ravana mortally wound
ing him.
Sud
denly a deafening scream
was heard, and then Ravana fell dow
n and died.
Han
uman
fle
w to
the p
alac
e o
f Rav
ana
to r
ele
ase S
ita. H
e then
led h
er
bac
k in
to
the a
rms
of R
ama,
who
tend
erly
wra
pped h
er
in a
big
hug
.
“I m
isse
d y
ou a
lot
and
Han
uman
alw
ays
gave
me h
ope,
” sa
id S
ita.
“Sita,
you
're r
eal
ly a
live!” s
aid R
ama
“That
is
noth
ing.
” Han
uman
sai
d s
hyl
y, loo
king
dow
n at
the g
roun
d.
“Com
e S
ugriva
, we b
ett
er
go.” s
aid H
anum
an
Ram
a re
plie
d, “Y
ou h
ave d
one m
uch f
or u
s an
d w
e than
k yo
u al
l…”
Ram
a an
d S
ita
gave
Han
uman
and
Sug
riva
som
e jewele
ry a
s gi
fts.
"Fro
m n
ow o
n yo
u will be o
ur b
roth
ers
, pl
eas
e a
ccept
our
friend
ship
." s
aid S
ita
and R
ama
Han
uman
acc
ept
ed a
nd w
as v
ery
hap
py. He r
em
aine
d a
n ete
rnal
and
fai
thfu
l
serv
ant of
Ram
a an
d S
ita. H
e lived in
the f
orest
and
hav
e m
any
mor
e f
un a
nd
exci
ting
adve
ntur
es.
This story comes from the Hindu epic "The Ramayana", which is over 4,000 years
old.
HANUMAN: Designed to be best friends and hero, possessed great
strength, intelligence and magic.
INDRA: Controller of the atmosphere and also the climate.
RAMA: incarnation of Vishnu, Rama is the character principal of the
Ramayana, represents holiness and purity.
RAVANA: ten-headed demon, cunning and evil. King of Lanka.
SITA: worshiped as goddess. Sita is considered beautiful, intelligent
and devoted to her husband, the ideal model for many women.
SUGRIVA: King of the monkeys, loyal and helpful. Hanuman led his
army and was his personal adviser.
VAYU: The god of the wind, Vayu controls Northern Hemisphere and
travels in a golden carriage guided by 1,000 horses.