Angada
Angada (Sanskrit: अङ्गदः, IAST: aṅgada, lit. donor of limbs/bracelet) is a vanara who helped Rama find his wife Sita and fight her abductor, Ravana, in Ramayana. He later crowned as king of Kishkindha.[1]
Angada | |
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Ramayana character | |
Angada shows his Strength | |
In-universe information | |
Species | Vanara |
Affiliation | King of Vanara |
Family | |
Reign | |
Predecessor | Sugriva |
Life
Angad was son of powerful vanara king Vali and his wife Tara. He was nephew of Sugriva. After death of his father Angada joins Rama's forces to rescue Sita from Ravana's captivity.
Angada and Tara are instrumental in reconciling Rama and his brother, Lakshmana, with Sugriva after Sugriva fails to fulfill his promise to help Rama find and rescue his wife. Together they are able to convince Sugriva to honor his pledge to Rama instead of spending his time carousing and drinking.[2] Sugriva then arranges for vanaras to help Rama and organises the monkey army that will battle Ravana's demonic host. Angada led the particular search party which consisted of Hanuman and Jambavant and was able to find Sita, Rama's wife.[3]
A legend goes by that no one could move Angada's leg. Just before the war, Rama sent Angada to Ravana's court as peace messenger and give him one last chance to send Sita back to him and stop the war. Angada went to Ravana's court and gave him a last warning but Ravana offered him to join him stating that his father Bali, was his friend. Angada however rejected Ravana's advances and said that there was nothing as good as serving Shri Rama and then he made fun of Ravana in front of the entire court. He then challenged them that if anyone could move his leg he on behalf of Shri Rama would take the entire army back and forget about rescuing Mata Sita. Everyone thought it was very easy and took turns to move his leg, but failed to even give it a budge, including Indrajit, the most powerful son of Ravana. Seeing Indrajit defeated, Ravana got up and was about to touch his leg when Angada moved it's leg out of the way and Ravana's crown fell off. He took the crown and said, 'O, foolish Ravana, why do you touch my leg, if you want to touch somebody's leg then go and touch the Lord Shri Rama's leg, where you will be forgiven of your sins. ' He then threw the crown and it went straight and landed in Shri Rama's feet and then flew away before Ravana could seize him. Lord Rama was very pleased of Angada.[4]
In the Ramayana war that took place, Angada killed many great warriors from Lanka, including, Ravana's son Narantaka and chief general of Ravana's army Mahaparshva.[5]
Characterization
Personality
Angada is portrayed as a virtuous character and a brave warrior
References
- "Who was Angad? What is Angad's role in Ramayana?". www.timesnownews.com. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- Narayan, R. K. (29 August 2006). The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-4406-2327-1.
- Subramaniam, Neela (2005). Ramayana for Children. Sura Books. ISBN 978-81-7478-489-6.
- Sah, Anusuya (23 November 2019). Valmiki's Ramayana- The Saga of a Scion Born in Ayodhya. Blue Rose Publishers.
- Mittal, J. P. (2006). History Of Ancient India (a New Version) : From 7300 Bb To 4250 Bc,. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. ISBN 978-81-269-0615-4.