Hanuman watched this with deep pity and grief for Seeta, admiration for her courage and a growing fury at Ravana’s impertinence. He saw Seeta weeping after Ravana had left. The rakshasis began to trouble Seeta. Some of them advised her to accept Ravana’s proposal. Some mocked her. Some suggested that Rama had been killed by […]
Ball Lightning is a rare event that happens in the sky. But unlike a regular lightning that appears as branched lines. Ball Lightning is a glowing ball of light which can be as small as a marble or as large as a gas balloon. What makes it more intriguing is the fact that it lasts
Seeta replied to Ravana by telling him to take care of his wives. She herself was the daughter of King Janaka, the wife of Rama, a prince of Ayodhya of the Suryavanshi dynasty. She was not impressed by his wealth and power. “Is there no one to give you good advice?” she asked Ravana, “Why
Soil and Salt hold special meaning in Scottish Highland funerary customs. Do you know: In the Scottish Highlands, the dead would be buried with a wooden plate on his chest. The wooden plate was placed on the deceased’s chest to place soil and salt on it. Both these things had a symbolic meaning. The soil
Seeta sat surrounded by ferocious rakshasis holding spears and other weapons in their hands. They were guarding her closely. As he watched dawn broke, Ravana awoke and when he was dressed in all his finery, he came with a large retinue to meet Seeta. She shrank away in fear and disgust, frightened and worried if
Hanuman searched for Seeta, going through the silent streets and houses, till he reached the palace, where he found all the men and women fast asleep. He saw Ravana also sleeping. He examined all the females to find out whether Seeta was among them. But there was no sign of Seeta anywhere. He went out
Leaving windows open in the deceased’s house, holding wakes are funeral customs prevalent amongst the Irish. Do you know: It is considered bad luck if someone were to block the path to an open window in the deceased person’s house. The Irish believe that the windows of a house where someone has passed away must
Hanuman reached Lanka, a kingdom that was at the peak of its glory, more splendid and prosperous than Amaravati of Indra. He quickly reduced himself to a tiny-sized monkey so that he might explore the place freely first. The gate was guarded by the fierce Lankini who stopped him, asking him who he was and
One more hurdle had to be crossed by Hanuman before reaching the shores of Lanka. In the waters of the ocean lived a strange demoness called Chhayagrahini rakshasi. She got her name from the fact that she lay in wait for birds flying overhead whose reflection she would see in the water. She would grab
Hanuman was flying further along when a huge demoness, Surasa, blocked his path. Surasa was the mother of serpents and had been sent to test Hanuman. She opened her mouth wide to devour him, but the wider she opened it, the larger grew Hanuman. Then when she had opened it at its widest, Hanuman shrank
Standing on Mahendra mountain, Hanuman offered prayers to all the gods, especially Vayu, and with the name of Sri Rama in his heart and on his lips, he took off over the ocean towards the south, where Lanka lay. In the ocean lay Mainaka mountain that had taken shelter in the ocean to escape persecution
Hanuman’s glory lay in his humility. It is only when he was told about them, that he realised the great hidden powers he possessed. As he grew in size and heard Jambavan talk about these qualities, he knew he could achieve the purpose for which Rama had sent him with the troop. The vanara sena
When all movement of air stopped, everything came to a standstill and human beings, devas, asuras, animals and plants, all began to struggle for breath. All the gods, including Indra, went to Vayu in desperation and begged his pardon for hurting his son. When Vayu forgave them, Hanuman was revived and blessed by them with
Mount Baigong in China has a long sequence of pipe-like structures that were probably made by some advanced extraterrestrial beings. These pipes date back to a time when human beings did not have the technology to make such pipes. People in the surrounding areas say they have been there for centuries and they are sure
The vanara sena decided not to fast but settled down to decide how to go across the sea to Lanka. They calculated the distance each of them could leap, but none could cover the distance in one leap! Jambavan, the wise old bear, suddenly turned to Hanuman, sitting quietly as the others discussed the matter.