Hanuman Stories for Kids: The Sun, the Leap and the Sanjeevani Mountain

Ask a room of Indian children who their favourite character in the Ramayana is, and Hanuman will win almost every time. He is enormously strong, he can fly, he can grow as big as a mountain or as small as a fly, and he is funny and mischievous too. But what makes him truly special is that all that strength is in the service of someone he loves. He is the greatest of devotees, and he never once boasts.

Here are five Hanuman stories for kids, from his childhood to his greatest feats, with the lesson each one carries.

1. The boy who tried to eat the sun

Hanuman was the son of Anjana and Kesari, a vanara chief, and was blessed by Vayu, the god of the wind, which is why he is also called Pavanaputra, son of the wind. From birth he was astonishingly strong.

One morning, the baby Hanuman woke up hungry and saw the rising sun glowing red in the sky. Thinking it was a ripe fruit, he leapt into the sky to grab it. He flew higher and higher, and the gods were alarmed. Indra, king of the gods, threw his thunderbolt, the vajra, to stop him. It struck the baby on the jaw, and Hanuman fell to earth.

His jaw was injured, and in many tellings that gives him his name: hanu means jaw in Sanskrit. Vayu was so angry that his son had been hurt that he withdrew all the air from the world, and every living thing began to suffocate. To calm him, the gods came together, healed Hanuman and gave him many blessings: strength, speed, wisdom and protection from harm.

2. The curse of forgetting

With all these powers, the young Hanuman became very naughty. He played pranks on the sages in the forest, disturbing their prayers and scattering their things. In the well-known telling, the sages, losing patience, placed a gentle curse on him: he would forget his great powers, and would only remember them when someone reminded him.

This curse turned out to be part of a bigger plan. Hanuman grew up calm, humble and wise, not knowing how strong he really was, until the day it mattered most.

3. The leap across the ocean

Years later, Hanuman became the minister of Sugriva, the vanara king, and met Rama, who was searching for his wife Sita after she had been carried off by Ravana. From the very first meeting, Hanuman devoted himself to Rama completely.

The search party reached the southern shore of India and stared out at the endless ocean. Sita was somewhere across it, in Lanka. None of them could leap that far. Hanuman sat quietly at the back. Then the wise old bear Jambavan came and sat beside him and reminded him of who he was: the son of the wind, blessed by the gods, who as a baby had leapt for the sun. As Jambavan spoke, Hanuman began to remember. He grew larger and larger, climbed a mountain, and leapt across the ocean.

Hanuman always had the strength to cross the ocean. He just needed someone who believed in him to remind him. Every child has a Jambavan, and every child can be one for someone else.

4. Finding Sita and burning Lanka

In Lanka, Hanuman made himself tiny and searched the city until he found Sita, sad and alone in the Ashoka grove. He gave her Rama’s ring as proof that he was Rama’s messenger and that help was coming. Sita’s hope returned.

Before leaving, Hanuman let himself be captured so that he could see Ravana and warn him to return Sita. Ravana ordered that Hanuman’s tail be wrapped in cloth and set on fire. But Hanuman grew his tail longer and longer, so they needed more and more cloth, and as soon as it was lit, he leapt from roof to roof, setting Lanka ablaze, before dipping his tail in the sea and flying home with the news.

5. The Sanjeevani mountain

During the great battle in Lanka, Lakshmana was struck down and gravely wounded. The physician Sushena said that only a herb called sanjeevani, which grew on a mountain in the far-off Himalaya, could save him, and it had to be brought before dawn.

Hanuman flew north as fast as the wind. But when he reached the mountain, there were so many plants that he could not tell which was the right one. There was no time to search. So Hanuman lifted the entire mountain and carried it back to Lanka. Sushena found the herb, Lakshmana was saved, and Hanuman carried the mountain back again. This is why Hanuman is so often shown flying with a mountain in his hand.

Rama in his heart

There is one more story, from later devotional retellings rather than Valmiki’s Ramayana, that children love. After Rama was crowned, someone doubted Hanuman’s devotion. In answer, Hanuman tore open his chest, and there, in his heart, were Rama and Sita. It is a picture that appears in countless homes and temples.

What Hanuman teaches children

Hanuman shows that strength and humility can live in the same person, that a good friend gives everything and asks nothing, and that we are often capable of far more than we believe. Above all, his stories show that devotion, to a person, a cause or what is right, gives a different kind of strength.

Two Hanuman shlokas are perfect for children: Manojavam Marutatulyavegam and Buddhir Balam Yasho Dhairyam. Both have their own pages in our free shloka library. And if your child would like to learn the Hanuman Chalisa properly, verse by verse, our Hanuman Chalisa and Ramayana classes are a lovely place to start.