Hanuman is the son of Vayu, the Hindu God of wind, and is seen by the Hindus as the ultimate hero. He is worshiped as a symbol of physical strength, perseverance, and devotion.
As a child, Hanuman mistook the rising sun for a mango and flew up to snatch it. Indra, the Lord of Heaven, feared that the sun might be caught so he hit Hanuman with his terrible thunderbolt and hurt him. Vayu was so angry that he sucked away the air from three worlds so there was no air to breathe. Vayu wouldn’t release the wind until all the gods blessed his son and gave him immortality and supernatural powers.
Hanuman is best known from the Indian epic the Ramayana where Sita, the wife of King Rama, is abducted by the demon Ravana. Hanuman led his army of monkeys and bears to build a bridge from India to Lanka, where Sita was being held, and helped Rama to rescue his beloved.
