Angada (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: अङ्गदः, IAST: Aṅgada) is a legendary vanara in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. He helps

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

find his wife

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

and fight her abductor,

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

, in the epic

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

. He is the prince of

Kishkindha Kishkindha (, ) is a kingdom of the vanaras in Hinduism. It is ruled by King Sugriva, the younger brother of Vali, in the Sanskrit epic ''Ramayana''. According to the Hindu epic, this was the kingdom that Sugriva ruled with the assistance of ...

, and is later crowned as the kingdom's monarch. Angada smites the demon Narantaka

Legend

Angada is a son of the powerful vanara king Vali, and his wife Tara. He is the nephew of Sugriva. After Rama and Sugriva kill his father, Angada joins Rama's forces to rescue Sita from Ravana's captivity. Angada and Tara are instrumental in reconciling

and his brother,

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

, with Sugriva, after the king fails to fulfill his promise to help Rama find and rescue his wife. Together, they are able to convince Sugriva to honour his pledge to Rama, instead of spending his time carousing and drinking. Sugriva then arranges for ''vanaras'' to help

and organises the monkey army that will battle Ravana's demonic host. Angada leads the particular search party, which consists of

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

and Jambavanta and is able to find

, Rama's wife. A legend goes by that no one could move Angada's leg. Just before the war, Rama sends Angada to Ravana's court as a peace messenger to give him one last chance to send Sita back to him and stop the war. Angada travels to Ravana's court, and issues him a last warning but Ravana retorts by stating that his father, Vali, is his friend. Angada, however, rejects Ravana's stance, and retorts by saying that there was nothing as divine as serving Rama, and then proceeds to mock Ravana for his foolishness and pride, in front of the entire court. He challenges the present courtiers to move his leg, upon which he promises that he would retreat from the island, forgetting about rescuing Sita. Almost all courtiers take turns to move his leg, but fail to even give it a budge. Even Indrajita, the most powerful son of Ravana, is unable to move the leg. Seeing Indrajita defeated, Ravana rises in fury, and proceeds to accept the challenge, upon which Angada moves his leg out of the way, and Ravana's crown falls off. When the king reaches for his crown, Angada rhetorically wonders why Ravana wishes to touch his leg, and that touching the feet of Rama would be much more fruitful instead. He hurls the crown with such force that it is supposed to have landed at Rama's feet. The prince flies away before Ravana could seize him. Rama is pleased by this act of Angada. In the Battle of Lanka that ensues, Angada slays many great warriors from Lanka, including,

's son

Narantaka Narantaka (Sanskrit: नरान्तक, IAST: narāntaka, lit. ''destroyer of men'') and Devanataka (Sanskrit: देवान्तक, IAST: devāntaka, lit. ''destroyer of Gods'') are asuras and sons of Ravana who appear in a number of Hi ...

, and the chief general of

's army, Mahaparshva. Angada marries the eldest daughter of the vanara Mainda, and has a son, Dhruva. When his uncle Sugriva decides to retire from the earth and return to his father, Surya, he crowns Angada as the next king of Kishkindha, and of the vanaras.

References

External links

*http://mythfolklore.net/india/encyclopedia/angada.htm {{Ramayana Vanara in the Ramayana Characters in the Ramayana