The Many Birthplaces of Hanuman
On April 21, on the occasion of Sri Rama Navami, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), custodian of the richest Hindu shrine, unveiled “mythological, epigraphic and geographic evidence” to claim that Tirumala is the birthplace of the Hindu god Hanuman. To bolster the claim, the TTD had constituted an eightmember committee, including Sanskrit and Vedic scholars and even a scientist from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in December 2020 to produce “irrefutable” evidence on the purported Hanuman janmabhoomi. This came after questions were raised during the special religious discourses the TTD held in June last year when participants asked why there were uncertainties about the birthplace. It seems bhakts were mentioning several places with similarsounding names.
The TTD announced that Anjanadri, one among the Seven Hills, is the birthplace of Hanuman. This comes after poring over references in ancient
Hindu texts and correlating it with astrological interpretations. By way of evidence, the committee headed by V. Muralidhara Sharma, vicechancellor of the National Sanskrit University, Tirupati, pointed out that “the Valmiki Ramayana (shlokas 8183) clearly mentions that Hanuman was born to Anjana on these sacred mountains after a penance. He received the name Anjaneya while the hillock got the name Anjanadri”. The report also cites the Mahabharata where ‘in a conversation with Bhimasena, Hanuman
says he was born with the blessings of Vayu deva to an apsara named Punjikasthala, who was cursed to become a vanara stree, Anjana Devi’. Relying on Hindu scriptures, the panel also asserts that Anjana Devi took a holy bath in the Akash Ganga and did penance before giving birth to Lord Anjaneya. They also cite rock inscriptions at the Tirumala temple from 1491 and 1545 that purportedly mention Anjanadri as the birthplace of Anjaneya.
Besides the inscriptions, there are many references to the birthplace in Indian literature. The Anjanadri Mahatmyam, digitised manuscripts of which are available at the British Library, clearly points to Anjanadri as the birthplace of Hanuman. There are also references to Anjanadri in the Epigraphica Indica. For its research, the panel says it counted on scriptural evidence found in the Shiva, Brahma, Brahmanda, Varaha and Matsya Puranas besides the Venkatachala Mahatmyam and Brihatsamhita of Varahamihira. “The committee has based its findings on literary and epigraphic evidence from Puranic anthologies which has geographic details of Hanuman’s birth in Anjanadri,” says Sharma. Dr Annadanam Chidambara Sastry, who has done extensive research on the subject since 1972, says “the TTD and state government should build a Hanuman temple on the holy Anjanadri hill, just like the Sri Ram temple in Ayodhya”.
However, some historians have raised doubts, and said there are several other spots that could lay similar claims. There is a hillock called Anjeyanadri near Hampi in Karnataka; Anjan village, 21 km from Gumla, in Jharkhand; the Anjan mountain in the Navsari region of Gujarat; the Kaithal region in Haryana; and Anjaneri, 7 km from Triambakeswar in Nasik district of Maharashtra. All these sites have their believers, and make contesting claims as the birthplace of Hanuman.
Karnataka is already disputing the present claim, saying the birthplace is on their land in Kishkinda, near Anegundi in Koppal district. The hills of Kishkinda adjoining Hampi have a reference in Ramayana, where it is described as the place where Ram and Lakshman met Hanuman. The Anjeyanadri hill there has a Hanuman temple on the top with a rockcarved idol and Ram, Sita and Anjana Devi temples in the vicinity. Karnataka agriculture minister B.C. Patil says they
“are developing the place as a pilgrimage centre with the tag of Hanuman
janmasthala (birthplace)”.
Soon after the TTD panel was formed, the Karnataka tourism department announced a project to make the Anjeyanadri hill a religious tourism hub. Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa is an ardent Hanuman bhakt. A Rs 50.2 crore project report is ready for approval of the state cabinet, according to state tourism minister C.P. Yogeshwar. Karnataka has yet another claimant. Raghaveshwara Bharathi, head of the Ramachandrapura Mutt in Shivamogga district, claims the actual spot is Kudle beach in coastal Karnataka’s Gokarna. Bharathi says in the Valmiki Ramayana, Hanuman himself tells Sita that he was born in Gokarna. “Based on the Ramayana, we can say that Gokarna is Hanuman’s
janmabhoomi and Anjeyanadri in Kishkinda his karmabhoomi.” Bharathi says by Ram Navami next year, the temple in Gokarna will have a huge statue of Hanuman.
Even as the controversy builds up, the TTD is planning to publish a book with all the evidence it has gathered. Says TTD’s Sri Venkateswara Higher Vedic Studies project director and Anjaneya birthplace committee convenor Akella Vibhishana Sharma: “As Tirumala is the main source of Hindu dharma, it is our duty to clear the doubts of devotees and establish beyond doubt the facts about Hanuman’s janmabhoomi.”
Tirumala is claiming Anjanadri in the Seven Hills as Lord Hanuman’s birthplace, but Karnataka is countering it with Anjeyanadri near Hampi