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Hanuman moving a mountain.

Written by

Laremy Lee

in

Image of Hanuman moving a mountain on the side of a van.

So I was riding along Bendeemer Road one day when I saw this van headed in the direction of Little India.

I quickly whipped out my mobile phone to take a picture of it because I was quite pleased by the symbolism of the image/advertisement.

Why?

  • The name of the company that owns this van is Sri Ram Exports Pte Ltd.
  • The image on the van is that of Hanuman moving a mountain (click on the link and read the entire page to understand why Hanuman is moving a mountain).
  • Ultimately, the story of Hanuman moving a mountain is supposed to demonstrate his devotion toward Ram.
  • Whoever commissioned the advertisement wanted to portray the Export company in a similar light i.e. we’ll get your goods to you in good time even if we have to cross oceans to reach you.

That’s quite clever, right?

(On hindsight: yes, it’s clever – so long as my assumptions are correct i.e.

  • For all I know, whoever commissioned the ad could’ve just done so without making any of the connections I mentioned above.
  • Also, my knowledge of Hindu mythology is quite limited so I could’ve got the interpretation wrong.)

Comments

One response to “Hanuman moving a mountain.”

  1. Sharad Avatar
    Sharad

    yes you are right, my friend.

    as the story goes: when Lakshman(Ram’s brother) was wounded in a battle by Indrajit, a sage suggested that he would need a particular kind of herb(“Sanjavani Buti” as mentioned in Ramayan) from the himalayas if he is to survive. Hanumaan, being Ram’s devotee couldn’t let Ram’s brother die like this. Also Hanumaan is a son of Wind God. He could fly and he’s supposed to be the strongest man in the world(at least, at the time). So the sage describes Hanuman the physical characteristics of the plant so that Hanumaan could identify it. Off goes Hanumaan, to the himalayas.
    After a long search for the plant, Hanumaan, being not so intelligent, could not tell “Sanjivani Buti” from other herbs in the Himalayas. And now he was running out of time. He then decided that he ran out of option and he had no alternative than to carry the whole mountain and deliver it to where Lakshman was laying. Then the sage gets the herb he needs to survive Lakshman and does so. Simply saying, Hanumaan moves that mountain and delivers it in very timely manner proving his devotion to Ram, and may be to Lakshman too.

    good luck with your further research.

    Reply

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