Stories 2
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Origin
Legend
Local story
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From the epics
Festival story
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In stone and bronze
How a tradition frames it
Everywhere
Pan-India 95
South India 67
West India 30
East India 22
North India 15
The Himalaya 12
Northeast India 5
Southeast Asia 4
Central India 4
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How a tradition frames it · 2 tellings · contested
Hanuman as Shiva's own avatar
Shaiva texts and popular tellings say that when Vishnu chose to be born as Rama, Shiva chose to be born as Hanuman — his eleventh Rudra — to serve him; Vaishnava schools call Hanuman the son and incarnation of Vayu.
From the epics · 2 tellings
Rama in Thailand and Cambodia
Thailand's Ramakien makes Phra Ram an incarnation of Phra Narai and a Bodhisatta; Cambodia's Reamker reads Preah Ream almost as a mortal through a Theravada lens.