Editing Hanuman (section)

===Hinduism===

==== Ramayana ====
[[File:Hanuman finds Sita in the ashoka grove, and shows her Rama's ring.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Hanuman finds Sita in the [[Ashoka Vatika|Ashoka grove]], and delivers her Rama's ring.]]

The [[Sundara Kanda]], the fifth book in the Ramayana, focuses on Hanuman. Hanuman meets [[Rama]] in the last year of the latter's 14-year exile, after the demon king Ravana had kidnapped Sita. With his brother [[Lakshmana]], Rama is searching for his wife [[Sita]]. This, and related Rama legends are the most extensive stories about Hanuman.<ref>{{cite book|author=Catherine Ludvik|editor=F.S. Growse|title=The Rāmāyaṇa of Tulasīdāsa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WViTwAKqzoC&pg=PA723|year=1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0205-6|pages=723–728}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Catherine Ludvik|title=Hanumān in the Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki and the Rāmacaritamānasa of Tulasī Dāsa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCXQN0qoAe0C |year=1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1122-5|pages=1–16}}</ref>

Numerous versions of the ''Ramayana'' exist within India. These present variant legends of Hanuman, Rama, Sita, Lakshamana and Ravana. The figures and their descriptions vary, in some cases quite significantly.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Peter J. Claus|author2=Sarah Diamond|author3=Margaret Ann Mills|title=South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=au_Vk2VYyrkC |year=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-93919-5|pages=509–511}}</ref>

====Mahabharata====
[[File:Hanuman statue and shrine. South of Chennai.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Roadside Hanuman shrine south of [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]].]]
The ''Mahabharata'' is another major epic which has a short mention of Hanuman. In Book 3, the Vana Parva of the ''Mahabharata'', he is presented as a half-brother of [[Bhima]], who meets him accidentally on his way to Mount Kailasha. A man of extraordinary strength, Bhima is unable to move Hanuman's tail, making him realize and acknowledge the strength of Hanuman. This story attests to the ancient chronology of Hanuman. It is also a part of artwork and reliefs such as those at the Vijayanagara ruins.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Dallapiccola | first1=A.L. | last2=Verghese | first2=Anila | title=Narrative Reliefs of Bhima and Purushamriga at Vijayanagara | journal=South Asian Studies | volume=18 | issue=1 | year=2002 | doi=10.1080/02666030.2002.9628609 | pages=73–76| s2cid=191646631 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=J. A. B. van Buitenen|title=The Mahabharata, Vol. 2: Book 2: The Book of Assembly; Book 3: The Book of the Forest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QG_ZgsM13IC&pg=PA371|year=1973|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-84664-4|pages=180, 371, 501–505}}</ref>