Do We Hindus Worship A Monkey God? - Proudly Say We Do Worship Hanuman

Do we Hindus worship a monkey god? - Do not shy away proudly say we do worship Hanuman. This question can be asked by your child or friend or colleague.

Hanuman is the greatest of all devotees, a sadhaka and a brahmachari with single-minded devotion for Lord Rama. Hanuman’s one-pointed devotion gave him unparalleled strength and assurance of attaining his goal. Hindu saints and seers encourage students to develop such single pointed devotion.

Hanuman is the symbol of unwavering mind. Only an unwavering mind can achieve success in the world.

As a great warrior, a great scholar, a sincere friend, minister, ambassador, as one wedded to truth and righteousness, a servant and an outstanding devotee, Hanuman reveals the traits that no other living being does. Therefore it appears that the Indian mind visualized “The Perfect Man” not in the image of a man, but in the image of Hanuman.

Born as the son of one of the elements, Vayu (wind), appearing as a man perfect in all fields of activities, Hanuman is raised to the status of godhood, a benevolent god of hope, intellect, courage and devotion. (Dr. R. Nagaswamy) 

Qualities of Hanuman

• Fearlessness
• Single-minded focus.
• Unwavering Devotion
• Humble in spite of unfathomable strength
• Highly intellectual
• Achieved victory over lust and other worldly desires
• Flexible and humorous
• Hope
• Great warrior and the greatest servant
• Truthful 

Kul Bhushan writes in rxpgnews

'Mummy, do we worship a monkey god?' asked a toddler in Britain. Such a question can be asked to any NRI mother, anywhere. The query would be difficult to tackle on the spur of the moment. What NRI children learn in school about their religion and gods is neither sufficient nor adequate - and sometimes incorrect! They have to respond to the comments, taunts and jibes from classmates. So they fall back upon their parents to give them the background; in most cases, they do not get it.

This is a problem not faced by NRI children alone. In India, we face similar problem in schools with children from different religious backgrounds. I was once personally jeered for the worship of ‘Shivling.’

Christian missionaries particularly make use of symbols like ‘Shivling’ and Hanuman to attack the Hindu faith.

NRIs find it tougher to tackle the situation as they are in the midst of dominant religions which for centuries have been ridiculing Hinduism.

The Consequences

1) Most NRI Hindus tend to hide their religion, especially children.

2) Some Hindus completely ignore the religion.

3) Some become religious fundamentalists and lose focus from the real teachings.

4) Some Hindus fall prey to conversion tactics.
5) The problem is not limited to NRIs even many educated Hindus in India feel embarrassed. 

The Solution

1) Illustrated religious books. This will kindle your child to inquire more.

2) Don’t send the child to any religious teaching if he/she is not interested. But if interested; sit with your child for a few lessons and make sure that your child is getting the right lessons.

3) Never ignore questions asked by your child.

4) If you are unable to answer to your child, Internet has the answers. A simple search in Google and other popular search engines will throw open thousands of pages.

5) Try to learn the symbolic meaning of ‘Shivling’, Hanuman and several other Hindu symbols.

6) Never hesitate to proudly display our tradition and its meaning. Do not be embarrassed our scriptures and our symbols are universal. All images of Hinduism have hidden meaning, it is for a devotee to do Sadhana and understand them.

7) Hinduism has numerous Holy Scriptures so a person can lose focus. The essence of the thousands of Holy Scriptures is captured in the ‘Bhagavad Gita.’ Focus on the Bhagavad Gita and you will see wisdom dawning in you.