The Yogī or the Bhakta: Hanumān Worship in the Deccan (10th-14th Century CE)

About the Speaker

Prachi Sharma graduated from St. Stephen’s college with History honours. She completed her MPhil and PhD from University of Delhi. Her PhD is titled ‘Epic Encounters: The Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata in the History of the Deccan, 4^th -14^th centuries CE. Her areas of interest include the epic traditions, history of ideas, and ancient and early medieval epigraphs of the subcontinent. She has presented her research at platforms such as the Indian History Congress and IIT, Gandhinagar.

Abstract

Across the subcontinent, Hanuman is commonly associated with the figure of Rāma and is perceived as deriving his theological status from this association. Another facet of Hanuman links him to Śiva, emphasizing the traits of mystic power and bravery. Drawing primarily from inscriptional evidence, this paper shall look into the theme of Hanumān's deification in the Deccan between the 10th and 14th centuries CE. The cult of Hanumān in this region grew parallel to that of Rāma showing modest beginnings around the 9th century CE. Besides, the deity is worshipped in other diverse religious contexts. My paper shall assesses the ways in which people, in this milieu in the Deccan, identified with the deity Hanumān; whether Hanumān can be viewed as a god in his own right establishing his position independently outside the shadow of Rāma or whether his identity remains synonymous with the rhetoric of bhakti.

Report

Dr Prachi Sharma’s paper focuses on the different ways in which people in the Deccan worshipped Hanuman. The Deccan includes the region of the Narmada river basin in Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh. In her research, Dr. Sharma analyses the different dimensions of Hanuman’s worship and identity as synchronous with Ram and separate from ram through the 10th-14th century. Hanuman’s cult in India began around the 10th century. Hanuman is perceived as minor deity deriving the divine status from Rama and Shiva. The author tries to unpack Hanuman’s identity with relation to these two major deities and also as a separate deity who was worshipped by different groups of people through the centuries in the Deccan.

Dr. Sharma uses varied sources to substantiate her arguments about the Cult of Hanuman and its origins and spread. She refers to R.N Nandi’s book on the growth of temples, Tantric texts regarding the growth of the Shaivites and the Vaishnavites to situate Hanuman with relation to the growth of Shiva’s worship. References to textual sources and traditions lead her to the analysis of the existence of a Yellow King. Some Valmikan characters describe him as having the characteristics of a protector, physical healer, power and thus being a major reason for the worship of Hanuman. This textual evidence for the existence of Hanuman worship is corroborated with evidence from temples in the Deccan and the inscription on stone slabs. These temples were not extremely grand, so there are very few secondary sources pointing to the rise of Hanuman as a powerful deity. However, texts like the Shiva Purana, written in the 8th Century identify Hanuman as part of Shiva’s growing fame and in relation to Shaivism. Hanuman is also referred to in iconography of the Ramayana in free-standing images around the 10th century. There are inscriptions in temples, mostly in Tamil and Kannada referring to the terms Anjaniya and Hanumanteshwar. His image is represented as holding a Shiva Ling as associated with the cult of Shiva. It is interesting to note that Hanuman is referred to as a minor god in the Vaishnava tradition. He is not comparable to Shiva due to his doubtful origins and qualities, because of the bias towards textual sources.

Along with these, there are multiple other inscriptions on the outer wall on temples which indicate the grants made by shepherds, royal women and others. Hanuman is referred to in the context of Lord Rama. The famous Ramaswamy temple is an example of this kind of representation. However, the author states that whether there was any interaction between the two deities cannot be determined positively. In addition, Hanuman temples in the 10th-14th century were also very popular for setting up hero-stones which emphasizes his importance as a major deity worthy of worship.

Thus, in conclusion, the author tries to restate how there are different interpretations of the ways of Hanuman worship and Hanuman's identity with relation to Lord Rama and Lord Shiva. In her paper, she has explored how by the 12th century, Jainism, Shaivism and Vaishnavism made deities more accessible to people within the concept of Bhakti. She has used inscriptions from multiple sites in the Deccan to decode the nuances of Hanuman worship and its significance in the time period.

Report by Nishtha Dani, Undergraduate Class of 2022