Ravan thought he had found the perfect way to humiliate Hanuman Ji. He ordered his soldiers to wrap cloth around the Vanar’s tail, soak it in oil and set it on fire. But there was one thing Ravan did not understand. The tail he wanted to use as a weapon of humiliation would become the very instrument of Lanka’s destruction. A popular devotional tradition adds an even deeper layer to this episode. It says that Hanuman Ji’s tail was not ordinary because Maa Parvati was believed to accompany Lord Shiva in his Vanar form through it. This belief makes Ravan’s decision to burn the tail appear even more significant But where does this belief come from, and what does the episode actually tell us?
