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On the track of a story!

Alter Idem turns fourteen today!
Last year, I'd said "I will post the short story  asap".....  and, forgot about it 😞
This won't happen again!

Early this year, I was on a short trip to Hampi - the erstwhile capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is also supposed to be Kishkindha - the kingdom of the Vanaras. 
I have no words to describe the unique landscape, the awesomeness of this city in ruins. Here's a picture I took from Matanga Hill, the highest peak in Hampi.


 If the stones could speak, it would be interesting to hear the stories hidden in the nooks and crevices!


The Vijaya Vittala temple complex in Hampi houses the famous stone chariot found in our 50 rupee note.

In addition, this complex has other buildings, stone reliefs...

This particular stone relief was very fascinating, because I had not come across any story involving Hanuman and babies (other than Makaradhwaja). 

And, thus started my hunt for a story that could fit this relief.

There are a few stories on the internet that associate the planet Shani at the foot of Hanuman. Zooming in, I realised that because of the bulging eyes, the 'baby' could be Shani! Shani is Soorya's son, and this creature has hair that looks like an  artist's impression of the sun's rays 🌞

Now, the story -

To prevent the ill effects of Shani in his life, Ravana had imprisoned Shani. 

After setting Lanka on fire, Hanuman sought his father Pawan's help to cross the ocean quickly so that he could reach Rama (waiting at Kishkindha) at the earliest - with the news of Seeta's presence in Lanka. 

As a return favour, Pawan asked Hanuman to release Shani from Ravana's prison and bring him along.

Sitting on Hanuman's shoulder, Shani felt suffocated because of the speed and requested him to slow down. Hanuman refused to do so, and Shani decided to hold on to Hanuman's foot.

Soon, Hanuman had to speed through forests, thorny shrubs and boulders. Poor Shani ended up bruised and battered. He begged to be set down and promised that Hanuman would be safe from the ill effects of Shani. As a bonus, he added that anyone praying to Hanuman on Saturdays would be spared from Shani's harm to a large extent....

By the way... there's a Hanuman temple in Gujarat with Shani in a female form, seeking refuge at Hanuman's foot - another day, another lore 😊
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Comments

  1. Swarna Bhat13 November, 2023

    Happy Birthday, Alter idem! ❤️ Interesting story!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yamini14 November, 2023

    Happy fourteenth! Looking forward to many more birthday stories :)

    ReplyDelete

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