Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.3819

c9.3819

VĀNARA (MONKEY). Monkeys are given a prominent place in the Purāṇas. Considering them as born in the family of Hanūmān, an ardent devotee of Śrī Rāma, some worship monkeys. It is mentioned in Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa that the monkeys got a prominent place first among the gods and spirits. It is stated in Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa, Sarga 33, that the leaders of the monkeys were Bāli, Sugrīva, Aṅgada, Mainda, Gavaya, Gavākṣa, Gaja, Śarabha, Sūryākṣa, Hanūmān, Vidyunmālī, Virabāhu, Subāhu, Nala, Kumuda, Jāmbavān, Tāra, Supāṭala, Sunetra, Nila and Dadhivaktra.