Maruti

MARUTHI: Indrajit, the son of Ravana possessed unique missiles conferred upon him by Brahma. Indrajit, during the battle showered these missiles upon Rama’s army rendering them immobile. At this juncture, Jambavan the aged and erudite bear instructed Hanuman to fly to the Himalayas and retrieve medicinal herbs from a mountain situated between Mount Kailash and Mount Rshabha. On the mountain, Jambavan instructed Hanuman to get four medicinal herbs: the Mrtasanjivini (capable of resurrecting the dead); Vishalyakarani (capable of extracting weapons and healing wounds); Suvarnakarani (capable of restoring complexion) and Sandhani (capable of joining severed or fractured limbs).

Hanuman immediately flies to the Himalayas and identifies the mountain. However the herbs immediately disappear. The infuriated Hanuman therefore seizes the top of the mountain and takes it to Lanka where Sri Rama and his army are revived and reinvigorated.

This print by the Ravi Varma Press derived from a painting by Raja Ravi Varma depicts Hanuman carrying the mountain of medicinal herbs back to Lanka.