Located close to Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, is a unique temple of Lord Hanuman where people believe that whatever they offer to Lord Hanuman with love and devotion as ‘prasad’, Lord Hanuman happily eats it all. The idol of Lord Hanuman is also unique in this temple, and one would not find a similar idol in another Indian temple.
We are talking about the Pilua Mahavir Hanuman temple in Uttar Pradesh. It is believed to be a centuries old temple and Lord Hanuman’s idol here is not standing up or looks like it is flying, but is rather lying down, almost as if Lord Hanuman himself is on the floor, in a state of idleness. The idol is all-orange in colour, as Lord Hanuman always is, and his mouth is wide agape. (Image: piluahanuman/Instagram)
It is said that centuries ago a King used to rule the area where the temple is now situated. One night in his sleep the King saw a prophecy that there was an idol of Lord Hanuman stuck under a particular location. The prophecy told the King that if he forms a Hanuman temple over there, his Kingdom will be long lived and his subjects will remain happy.
And so the next day the King asked his men to dig through that location. After sometime, the men found an idol of Lord Hanuman under a tree, and the King then informed his people that a temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman will now be constructed her, and it will be called Pilua Mahavir Hanuman temple as the tree that shielded Lord Hanuman for such a long time was the Pilua tree.
Another famous story about the Pilua Mahavir Hanuman temple says - When a King got to know that Lord Hanuman eats everything that is offered to him in this temple, he wanted to prove his might. And so, the King brought tons of water with him and asked Lord Hanuman to drink it. Lord Hanuman drank it all, and the water was nowhere to be traced. But the King still wanted to prove his might and asked his men to fetch him all the milk from the village. And in a similar incident, all the milk also vanished from Lord Hanuman’s mouth. After this, the same thing happened with food. The King grew worried! But then, the Queen came to Lord Hanuman and fed him a laddoo with all her love and devotion. It is said that Lord Hanuman ate this laddoo, burped a little, and then it was decided that Lord Hanuman will be offered Laddoo in this temple.
And since that time, Lord Hanuman even today eats the prasad offered to him by the temple priests and the devotees, and once the prasad is added to his mouth, nobody knows where it goes. One can never find the prasad in the river, or anywhere even close to the temple. Some people say that Lord Hanuman remains hungry no matter how much prasad is offered to him, and is waiting for his true devotee to come to him and feed him with his or her own hands.
Another exceptional miracle that happens in this temple is that devotees say that when you get too close to Lord Hanuman’s idol, and especially near his mouth, one can hear the chant of ‘Ram Ram’ from the idol. Some devotees believe that Lord Hanuman is present here himself and is chanting ‘Ram naam’ till the end of time.
(Image: piluahanuman/Instagram)