TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has announced that Japali Theertham near Akasha Ganga waterfall in Tirumala Hills as the birthplace of Lord Hanuman.National Sanskrit University Vice-Chancellor V Muralidhara Sharma, who is a member of the expert committee constituted by the TTD to establish Anjanadri Hill in the Seven Hills (Tirumala Hills) as the birthplace of Hanuman, at a programme organised at Tirumala on Wednesday, stated that they established the fact that Tirumala is the birthplace of Hanuman after four months of intensive research.
“It has been established based on puranic anthologies, literary and epigraphic evidence and geographic details. Venkatachalam is also known as Anjanadri and 19 other names. Hanuman was born on Anjanadri in Treta Yuga,” he said.
In Venkatachala Mahatyam and Skanda Puranam, it was explained that Anjana Devi, mother of Hanuman, approached sage Matanga seeking a way for her to be blessed with a son. She was advised to do penance on Venkatachalam. After several years of penance, she was blessed with a son. The place where she did penance and where Hanuman was born, had become famous as Anjanadri,” Prof Sharma said, explaining the findings of the expert committee.
In Venkatachala Mahatyam, Varaha Purana and Brahmanda Purana, it was clearly explained that after Hanuman was born, he leapt into the sky assuming the rising Sun as a fruit to satiate his hunger. The place from where he made the jump was Venkatagiri. After Lord Brahma and Lord Indra attacked him with their weapons, he fell down and Anjana Devi started crying for her son. To pacify her, the gods descended on Venkatachalam and bestowed several boons on Hanuman and said the place would be called Anjanadri,” Prof Sharma elaborated.
He said the committee collected evidence from 12 Puranas on the birthplace of Hanuman. Verses in Kamba Ramayanam and Annamacharya Sankeerthans also established the fact. The epigraphic evidence includes inscriptions found in Tirumala temple dating back to 12th and 13th century. Inscriptions at Varadaraja Swamy temple in Kanchipuram and Sawal-e-Jawab, a record of practices at Tirumala by North Arcot first collector G Stratton in 1801-2, which was translated by VN Srinivasa Rao in 1950, also established the fact, he said.
Giving geographical details, Prof Sharma said in Skanda Purana, when Anjana Devi asked Matanga where Venkatachalam was, he clearly told her that it was north of Swarnamukhi river and 12 yojanas from Ahobilam. “Claims that Hampi is the birthplace of Hanuman are not true. Hampi is Kishkinda while Venkatachalam is Anjanadri. It is clearly evident from the conversation between Sugreeva and Hanuman when the former asked the latter to bring Vanaras from Anjanadri,” he said.
He dismissed the claims of other places like Anjan village in Gumla district of Jharkhand, Navsari region in Gujarat, Kaithal in Haryana and Anjaneri near Trimbakeshwar in Nasik as the birthplace of Hanuman.
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who was the chief guest at the programme, said as an ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman, he is very happy to know that the TTD did elaborate research before declaring Anjanadri as Hanuman’s birthplace. “I congratulate the expert team which strived for four months to establish the fact pertaining to the birthplace of Hanuman,” he said and asserted that Ayodhya is Sri Rama’s birthplace, while Anjanadri is Anjaneya’s birthplace.
TTD Executive Officer KS Jawahar Reddy said the expert committee brought out a 22-page report to establish the fact that Anjanadri is Hanuman’s birthplace. “We will soon display this report on our website. Though other States like Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra are making claims on the birthplace of Hanuman based on local legends, they do not have any concrete evidence to prove their claims,” the TTD EO said.