Panchamukha is a Sanskrit word, meaning ‘five-faced’. Sri Hanuman manifested himself in Panchmukha or Pancha Mukhi avatar to kill Ahiravana. The origin of Sri Panchmukha Hanuman can be traced to a story in the Adbhuta Ramayana, but it does not exist in the original Valmiki Ramayana. Ahiravana, a powerful demon was the brother of Ravana during the Ramayan battle when Lakshman killed Indrajeet the son of Lankanaresh, Ravana approached his brother Ahiravana for help. He was the king of the underworld or Patal Lok. When Vibhishan came to know about this, he rushed to warn Ram and Lakshman. Vibhishan asked lord Hanuman to stay alert and not let anyone enter the premises where Lord Rama and Lakshman reside. Ahiravana tried so hard to enter the premises, but couldn’t succeed.
1. Ahiravana Kidnapped Lord Ram and Laxman
Lord Hanuman foiled his every attempt. At last, Ahiravana decided to disguise himself in the form of Vibhishan. Hanuman couldn’t recognize him and he let him enter the room where Ram and Lakshman were staying. Once Ahiravana entered the room, he abducted, Ram and Lakshman and took them to the underworld, when Hanuman came to know about the incident, he rushed to Vibhishan and informed him about this. Vibhishan asked Hanuman to rescue them quickly, or else Ahiravana will sacrifice them. Hence Hanuman went on a rescue mission to save both Ram and Lakshman.
2. Vibhishan Sent Hanuman to save Ram and Laxman
When Hanuman reached the door of Patal Lok, he was stopped by a strange creature. The creature had half the body of Vanara and half of a reptile. He was the guard of the door. Hanuman asked for his introduction to which he said that he was Makardhwaja, the son of Hanuman. This left Hanuman perplexed as he had been an adept Brahmachari all his life.
3. Hanuman’s Son: Makardhwaja
Makardhwaja explained that when Hanuman took a dip in the ocean after burning down the whole of Lanka with his inflamed tail, a drop of his blood fell into the mouth of a crocodile.
The crocodile later gave birth to his son Makardhwaja, who went on to become the gatekeeper of Patal Lok under Ravan’s cousin Ahiravana. After a brief fight, Hanuman defeated Makardhwaja and entered the Patal Lok, Ahiravana was backed by a strong army.
4. Hanuman Defeated Ahiravana with the help of Chandrasena
Chandrasena informed him about the secret of killing Ahiravana that his life force is in the five different candles which had been kept in five different directions. The only way to kill Ahiravana was to blow off all the candles. At the same time, Hanuman appeared in the fire-faced form and extinguished the five candles, and killed Ahiravana.
He then rescued Lord Rama and Lakshman, who were in an unconscious state by a magic spell.
5. Hanuman’s Panchmukha: The Five Faces
In the Panchmukha avatar, each face of lord Hanuman represents a god and has its significance. The face towards the east is Shri Anjaneya, which removes all blemishes of sin and confers purity of mind.
The south-facing Mukha is Shri Narshimha which removes the fear of enemies and confers victory. The west-facing Mukha is of Shri Mahavira Garuda that drives away evil spells, and black magic influences, and removes all poisonous effects in one’s body. The north-facing Mukha is of Sri Laxmi Varaha Murthy which wards off all the troubles caused by the bad influences of the planets and confers all prosperity of Ashta Aishwarya. The face looking upwards is of Sri Hayagreeva, which confers knowledge, victory, progeny, and Mukti. Panchmukha can be interpreted as the five waves of praying to a god in Hindu philosophy. These five waves are known as Naman, Smaran, Keethanam, Yacham, and Arpanam. The five faces of Panchamukha are also a depiction of one of these forms of worship