Ramayana teaches us the values of religion. From Ramayana, we come to know that despite being so powerful, Ram silently accepted his father’s wish when King Dasharath was forced to exile him for 14 years. At the same time, we also understand that the responsibility of protecting the woman whom you have married is also yours.
When Mother Sita was kidnapped, how Ram ji started asking the trees, leaves, sky and animals if anyone had seen his wife Sita. He started crying and said that without Sita he will not return to Ayodhya.
And not only this, when Ram ji came to know that his wife was kidnapped by Ravana, the king of demons, who is so powerful that even Indra, the king of gods, is afraid of him, even then Shri Ram did not back down from challenging him and fighting with him, but Lord Shri Ram did not fight alone with Ravana and his army, the monkey army supported Shri Ram equally in this war.
So let us know about this Vanar Sena (Ram Ji ki Vanar Sena) in this article.
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Were the Vanars monkeys?
Now there is always a controversy on whether the Vanars in Ram Ji’s army were monkeys or someone else. If we look at this word Vanar, it is made up of the combination of two words “Va” and “Nar” in which Va means forest and Nar means human. So if we try to understand from this fact, then we will understand that the Vanars were not actually monkeys but were humans who lived in the forest.
Now this is also very natural, even today some people live in the forests and we call them tribals whereas they are also humans like us, similarly in the old times or say in the Ramayana period, the humans living in these forests were called Vanars.
Now let us know in this article-
Who were the main warriors in Shri Ram’s army and what were their specialties.
Hanuman ji

His name at birth was Maruti and when Indra attacked him with his thunderbolt and his Hanu (chin) got hurt, then he was named Hanuman. After this incident, with the blessings of Indra, his name was Vajra Ang Bali which became Bajrangbali with time. Hanuman ji had the eight siddhis due to which he could increase or decrease his size and he could move at a very fast speed in the sky.
- It was Hanuman ji who brought Ram Lakshman on his shoulders through the sky to Rishyaimurak mountain where Ram Lakshman met Sugriva.
- It was Hanuman ji who crossed the sea and reached Lanka and he searched for Mata Sita and found out that she was imprisoned in Ravana’s Ashok Vatika.
- It was Hanuman ji who destroyed Ravana’s Ashok Vatika and killed Ravana’s son Aksha Kumar.
- It was Hanuman ji who burnt Ravana’s golden Lanka.
- It was Hanuman ji who saved the lives of Ram and Lakshman from Nag Paash and Ahiravan.
- It was Hanuman ji who brought Sanjivani mountain in one night due to his powers so that Lakshman’s life could be saved.
Sugriva

Sugriva was the king of the monkey army. Sugriva killed his elder brother Bali with the help of Ram and freed his wife from his captivity. In return for this help from Ram, Sugriva sent his monkey army in search of Sita Mata.
Sugriva was also very proficient in geography and he told the monkey army in which direction they should go and where they should not go.
In the war, he fought bravely with many demons and killed many warriors. Once, on seeing Ravana, Sugriva could not control his anger and started fighting a duel with Ravana.
Angad

Angad was one of the main warriors of Shri Ram, who forced the demons to tremble with his bravery in the war. Angad was the son of Bali and the nephew of the monkey king Sugriva. The amazing thing is that Angad’s father Bali gave the responsibility of Angad’s care and protection to the same person who had killed his father and Angad also obeyed his father’s word without any feeling of revenge.
Angad went to Lanka’s court as an envoy of Shri Ram and in a court where the greatest warriors were present, Angad fearlessly told Ravana what he had done wrong and why he should return Shri Ram’s wife with respect. When Ravana made fun of Angad, Angad planted his foot in Ravana’s court to demonstrate his power and Shri Ram’s power and gave an open challenge to everyone that if anyone in that court moves his foot, he promises that Shri Ram will return with his army.
Angad was so powerful that even Ravana himself was not able to move his foot.
Nal and Neel

Nal and Neel were two monkey warriors who are believed to be the sons of Vishwakarma. There is also a story that a sage had cursed them that the stones thrown by them in water will not sink but will float. Taking advantage of this, Nala Neer built a bridge of stones over the sea and because of this bridge, Shri Ram’s entire army was able to cross the sea and reach Lanka.
Jambavant

Jambavant was a bear warrior who had also seen Lord Rama’s previous incarnation Vamana. Before the Vanar Sena, he was the minister of Sugriva and used to suggest right and wrong to Sugriva. He reminded Hanuman ji of his powers so that Hanuman ji could cross the sea and go to Lanka. In the war, he killed huge demons and helped Ram ji in strategy with Vibhishan. He also saw the next incarnation of Lord Vishnu i.e. Krishna Avatar and his daughter was married to Shri Krishna in Dwapar Yuga.
Sharabha, Gavaya, Gaj, Shatabali, Panas, Mahabal, Dhumketu etc.
All these monkeys also played an important role in the war and faced and killed demons on many fronts of the war.