Significance and Influence

Significance and influence:-

Hanuman became more important in the medieval period and came to be portrayed as the ideal devotee (Bhakta) of Rama. Hanuman's life, devotion, celibacy and strength inspired wrestlers in India.

Hanuman in 17th-century

– Tulsidas, Ramcharitmanas 7.120.14

According to Philip Lutgendorf, devotionalism to Hanuman and his theological significance emerged long after the composition of the Ramayana, in the 2nd millennium CE. His prominence grew after the arrival of Islamic rule in the Indian Subcontient. He is viewed as the ideal combination of shakti ("strength, heroic initiative and assertive excellence") and bhakti ("loving, emotional devotion to his personal god Rama"). Beyond wrestlers, he has been the patron god of other martial arts. He is stated to be a gifted grammarian, meditating yogi and diligent scholar. He exemplifies the human excellences of temperance, faith and service to a cause.

In 17th-century north and western regions of India, Hanuman emerged as an expression of resistance and dedication against Islamic persecution. For example, the bhakti poet-saint Ramdas presented Hanuman as a symbol of Marathi nationalism and resistance to Mughal Empire.

Hanuman in the colonial and post-colonial era has been a cultural icon, as a symbol ideal combination of shakti and bhakti, as a right if Hindu people to express and pursue their forms of spirituality and religious beliefs(dharma). Political and religious organizartions have named themselves after him or his synonyms such as Bajrang. Political parades or religious processions have featured men dressed up as hanuman, along with women dressed up as gopis (milkmaids) of god Krishna, as an expresssions of their pride and right to their heritage, culture and religious beliefs, According to some scholars, the Hanuman-linked youth organizations have tended to have a paramilitary wing and have opposed other religions, with a mission of resisting the "evil eyed of Islam, Christianity and Communism", or as a symbol of Hindu nationalist.