Historical Development (Part-2)

Epics and Puranas:-

Hanuman is mentioned in both the Hindu epics,Ramayana and Mahabharata. A twentieth-century Jesuit missionary Camille Bulke, in his Ramkatha: Utpatti Aur Vikas ("The tale of Rama: its origin and development"), proposed that Hanuman worship had its basis in the cults of aboriginal tribes of Central India.

Hanuman is mentioned in the Puranas. A medieval legend posited Hanuman as an avatar of the god Shiva by the 10th century CE (this development possibly started as early as in the 8th century CE). Hanuman is mentioned as an avatar of Shiva or Rudra in the medieval era Sanskrit texts like the,MahaBhagvata Purana the Skanada Purana, the Brhaddharma Purana and the Mahanataka among others. This development might have been a result of the Shavite attempts to insert their ishta devta (cherished deity) in the Vaishanavite texts.

Other mythologies, such as those found in South India, present Hanuman as a being who is the union of Shiva and Vishnu, or associated with the origin of Ayyappa. The 17th century Odia work Rasavinoda by Dinakrishnadasa goes on to mention that the three gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva – combined to take to the form of Hanuman.

Late medieval and modern era:-

Numerous 14th-century and later Hanuman images are found in the ruins of the Hindu Vijaynagara Empire.

In Valmiki's Ramayana, estimated to have been composed before or in about the 3rd century BCE Hanuman is an important, creative character as a simian helper and messenger for Rama. The character evolved over time, reflecting regional cultural values. It is, however, in the late medieval era that his profile evolves into more central role and dominance as the exemplary spiritual devotee, particularly with the popular vernacular text Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas (~ 1575 CE). According to scholars such as Patrick Peebles and others, during a period of religious turmoil and Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent, the Bhakti movement  and devotionalism-oriented Bhakti yoga had emerged as a major trend in Hindu culture by the 16th-century, and the Ramcharitmanas presented Rama as a Vishnu avatar, supreme being and a personal god worthy of devotion, with Hanuman as the ideal loving devotee with legendary courage, strength and powers.

Hanuman evolved and emerged in this era as the ideal combination of shakti and bhakti. Stories and folk traditions in and after the 17th century, began to reformulate and present Hanuman as a divine being, as a descendant of deities, and as an avatar of Shiva. He emerged as a champion of those religiously persecuted, expressing resistance, a yogi, an inspiration for martial artists and warriors a character with less fur and increasingly human, symbolizing cherished virtues and internal values, and worthy of devotion in his own right. Hindu monks morphed into soldiers, and they named their organizations after Hanuman. This evolution of Hanuman's character, religious and cultural role as well as his iconography continued through the colonial era and in post-colonial times.