Hanuman

S Balakrishnan *

Namakkal Hanuman

Oh, no, this is not about the pan-India super hero movie ‘Hanuman’ that is going to hit the screens on 12th January. This is about a temple dedicated to the original Hanuman of the Ramayana epic in Namakkal Town of Tamil Nadu.

The Hanuman temple in Namakkal is perhaps one of the oldest temples (5th century / 8th century) exclusively dedicated to Hanuman. Also, the idol of Hanuman there is perhaps one of the earliest tallest Hanuman idols (18 ft.). So, it is no wonder that in Tamil Nadu State, Namakkal means Hanuman and Hanuman means Namakkal; they are almost synonymous.

Situated at distance of 390 kms from Chennai, Namakkal derives its name from the single massive rock formation called Namagiri in that town. It is 65 m high and is more than a kilometer in circumference. It has a fort atop and two rock-cut temples dedicated to Ranganatha Swamy (Vishnu) and Narasimha (an incarnation of Vishnu). The Hanuman idol, appropriately, faces the Narasimha temple at a distance of 130 meters.

The 18-foot-tall Hanuman is carved out of a single granite stone. Hanuman is in a standing posture, reverentially holding a jaba mala within his folded palms. The temple is a simple structure with a vast pillared hall with no roof over the Hanuman idol, as if indicating that he could transform himself into a huge figure with great strength, as and when the occasion demands. The legend says that Lord Narasimha appeared here for both Lakshmi and Hanuman.

A specialty of Namakkal Hanuman’s daily puja ritual is the 1008 vada malai (garland made of pepper vada) that is offered to him every morning. A significant ritual during the annual Hanuman Jayanthi is the vada mala consisting 1,00,008 pepper vada; yes, one lakh and eight pepper vadas!

The 1,00,008 vada garland

It costs between 5 and 7 lakh rupees to prepare this enormous garland; about 30 bhattacharyas (Vaishnavaite cooks) are involved in this preparation for three days. After the ritual is over, the vadas in the garland are distributed /sold as prasad to the devotees.

The pepper vada offered to Hanuman is different from the soft vada that forms part of the routine menu in Tamil Nadu. The pepper vada is hard to bite but can be preserved even for a week; it is spicy & tangy with pepper flakes.

Hanuman in Tamil is called as Anuman, or reverentially as Anumar (with an ‘r’ suffix), as the letter ‘ha’ is a Sanskrit letter. He is also called ‘Aanjaneyar’. As the loyal deputy of Lord Sri Ram, Hanuman invariably finds a place in all Vaishnavaite temples.

The Hanuman here also gives darshan in various other gorgeous ‘alankars’ (decorations) such as in silver, sandal paste, butter, and pearl dress, besides the vada mala darshan. The shops near the temple sell an interesting array of puja/ritual items and paan (betel) leaf garland for Hanuman. Accordingly, the Namakkal Aanjaneyar (Hanuman) temple is one of the prominent temples of Tamil Nadu.

These days, Namakkal is also known for its poultry agro-industry (hence called the Egg City) and for building bodies of heavy vehicles like trucks/lorries/oil tankers, etc. Namakkal had also gained prominence for boarding schools coaching their students with a single motto of scoring top marks in school final examinations; hence these schools are cynically called ‘poultry farms’.

As centuries rolled by, more temples dedicated to Hanuman have sprung up in Tamil Nadu with tall, taller and tallest idols but, as I said earlier, Namakkal and Aanjaneyar still remain inseparable. It was thanks to my longtime friend’s stay in Salem (near Namakkal) that helped me have a darshan of Namakkal Anuman some years back.

Though I propose to visit the Namakkal Anumar at least once again, he is not disposing my wish knowing well my (naughty) intention is only to taste his pepper vada prasad rather than worship him. Hey, Ram!

While in Tamil Nadu Hanuman Jayanthi is celebrated on 11th January, the new moon day of Margashrisha month, in other parts of India it is observed only on 23rd April, which fact I realized too late. So here goes my Hanuman, well ahead of the movie Hanuman.

Jai Shriram!