Hanumān was born to Añjanā and Kesarī by the blessing of Vāyu, the Wind god, and is honoured as an aṃśa of Śiva. The Rāmāyaṇa tells how, as a child, he leapt at the rising sun taking it for a fruit, and how in later life his strength, learning and devotion made him Rāma's greatest servant: he crossed the ocean, found Sītā, burned Laṅkā and carried the mountain of herbs to save Lakṣmaṇa.
Because regional calendars remember his birth differently, the date varies: Caitra Pūrṇimā in the North, the month of Mārgaḻi in Tamil Nadu, Vaiśākha Kṛṣṇa Daśamī at the end of a 41-day observance in the Telugu states, and Mārgaśīrṣa Śukla Trayodaśī (Hanumad vrata) in Karnataka.
