

Village Believes Two-Year-Old Boy is Reincarnation of Monkey God Hanuman

Lord Hanuman, the Hindu monkey-god of martial arts, meditation, self-control, service, and faith has been reincarnated as a small boy who likes to play with monkeys, or so the boy’s village believes.

Samarth Bangari, all of two-years-old, has reportedly formed a strange bond with the tribe of langur monkeys—also called Hanuman langurs because of their resemblance to the Hindu god Lord Hanuman—that live in the boy’s village of Allapur, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. The toddler, who has drawn comparisons to the character Mowgli from The Jungle Book, plays with the monkeys whenever he has the chance, feeds them cooked food, and can even pull their tails and pick up the infants without reaction or reproach from the langurs, which is good enough reason to declare him a reincarnation of a heroic god, according to Samarth’s mother Nanda.

People in our village are shocked to see Samarth’s special bond with the monkeys and some even call him as the incarnation of Lord Hanuman because of the monkeys who show immense love for him.

It is very strange. The Hanuman langurs are not regarded as a particularly friendly species, but they are constant, if insistent, playful companions to Samarth. If the boy is not awake and ready to play with them at dawn, the monkeys will go to his bed and wake him up. The langurs also reportedly wait patiently every day for their companion to return from school.

Two Hanuman langurs together.

Hanuman langurs grooming each other.

The friendship between Samarth and the monkey tribe began when a langur stole a piece of food from the boy. His mother says that Samarth just stood there, calm and giggling, as 10 langur monkeys surrounded him in expectation of more tasty treats. They’ve been best friends ever since. Samarth provides food to the monkeys and the monkeys provide street-cred to Samarth as a reincarnated warrior-god. It’s a beautiful partnership. One India has pictures available of Samarth and his furry friends.

At first, the village was scared for Samarth’s safety. After all, monkeys are notorious for carrying dangerous bacteria and not being the most predictable of animals. Try as they might,  they couldn’t pull Samarth away from his new best friends. As a consequence of trying to remove Samarth from the monkeys’ company, village elders have been reportedly attacked many times by the primate tribe, sustaining bites, scratches, and even chased for kilometers by the angry monkey mob.

The elders even tried to move the boy to a neighboring village. The monkey tribe responded by marching to the neighboring village and ransacking it until they found him, searching every home and only stopping their campaign of hilarious terror once Samarth had been returned. Now, his family says they are comfortable leaving Samarth unattended with the langurs, and the monkeys have not so much as scratched the boy.

Hanuman monkey in a tree.

The noble Hanuman langur awaits orders from its boy-king.

The bizarre friendship has even proved beneficial to Allapur and the neighboring villages. Before Samarth became king of the langurs, competing tribes of the Hanuman monkeys would war against each other in the area. The monkey skirmishes resulted in the destruction of crops and loss of food. With the arrival of Samarth into the world of the langurs, it seems a truce has somehow been brokered between the competing tribes. All warring has stopped, and there is peace among the monkey tribes.

Coming soon: “Reincarnation of Lord Hanuman Leads Million Monkey Army Against Civilized World.”