Storytelling Week 4: The Great Hanuman

Rama and Hanuman have just met for the first time.  After some conversation, Hanuman tells Rama that he will help his cause and immediately heads for the island of Lanka. The Earth shakes as with each step Hanuman takes. He sprints as fast as he can and takes a mighty leap into the sky. As he approaches Lanka he reduces his size so that he is not spotted. Despite his efforts, a rakshasha who keeps watch over the city informs Ravana that a giant being has just descended upon Lanka.

Ravana expects that it is an attempt to steal away his precious Sita away. He triples security around the city and personally guards Sita himself. Hanuman notices several rakshasha guards all over the city. He has to move around stealthily.

As Hanuman approaches the forest where Sita is hidden he encounters hordes of rakshashas. He is forced to blow his cover and assume his more powerful form. He yells with all his might as he grows into a giant. He then squashes several rakshashas with his feet. As he battles, one of the rakshashas shoots a flaming arrow at Hanuman’s tail. Hanuman screams in pain, but knows he must continue his mission. He clears through hundreds of rakshashas. As he fights the fire from his tail sets the city ablaze. Ravana realizes that his precious kingdom is being destroyed. He instructs his guards to make sure Sita does not get taken, and tells his men to put out the fire. He then makes his way for Hanuman.

Hanuman has sustained too much damage and has to revert back to his original form. This works to his advantage because it makes it harder for Ravana to find him. Hanuman sees Sita in the forest guarded by several rakshashas. He musters up his remaining strength and defeats them. He tells Sita that their future is grim. Hanuman does not have enough energy to defeat Ravana and Ravana will likely destroy them both in his fury.

During there conversation Hanuman hears and angry roar in the distance. He knows that Ravana is coming for them both. Just as all hope seemed lost, Garuda came to the rescue. He told Hanuman and Sita to jump on his back and he would fly them back to safety. Just as he finished his sentence Ravana came crashing through the trees.

Hanuman looked at Garuda and Garuda knew exactly what he meant. Garuda quickly swept Sita onto his back and flew towards Rama with tears in his eyes. Sita and Garuda watched as Hanuman and Ravana fought a fierce battle. Both knew that Hanuman’s fate was grim.

After hearing of Hanuman’s heroic deeds, Rama swore to destroy Ravana. Rama prepared his forces and quickly left for Lanka. Rama angrily proceeded to Lanka, clinging to the small hope that his best friend was still alive.

This is an image of the city of Lanka infested with Rakshashas.

Source

Author’s Note: In the movie “Sita Sings the Blues,” Sita has been kidnapped by the Demon King Ravana and taken prisoner in his kingdom of Lanka. In the original story, Hanuman sneaks into the Lanka to obtain some information on Sita. He finds Sita but she does not go with him because she only wants to be rescued by Rama. Before leaving the city, Hanuman assumes his more powerful form and begins destroying the city. He is captures by Indrajit, Ravana’s son, but escapes due to a miscalculation on how to properly bind someone with a Brahma weapon. During his capture, his tail is set on fire. When he decides to escape, he sets the city on fire. He then makes it safely back to Rama and informs him on his newly acquired knowledge. In the movie “Sita Sings the Blues,” one of the narrators explains that Sita should have just went back with Hanuman when he visited Lanka for the first time. After doing some brainstorming I wanted to change the story up to glorify the role of Hanuman and incorporate the idea that the narrator mentioned. One of my favorite shows when I was a little kid was Dragonball Z. In one of the episodes, a character named Vegeta uses all of his energy to mount one final attack against the villain Majin Buu. He sustains fatal damage from this attack, and the attack does not work. However he is later revived in the story. I gave Hanuman a similar role in this story. At the end, I left the story on a cliffhanger so that the audience can use their imagination to think of the ending.

Bibliography:

Title: Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition 

Authors: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.

Year: 2014