Hanuman’s mother. Anjana was the wife of Kesari and the daughter of Kunjara, both great vanaras.

Shiva and Parvati once visited the jungles in vanar form and copulated. Parvati became pregnant, but gave away her unborn child to Vayu. At that time, Anjana was praying for a child. Vayu gave Parvati’s child to Anjana, and that’s how Anjana gave birth to Hanuman, as per Ramayana Kishkindakanda Sarga 66.

Anjana gave birth to Hanuman in a forest called Kanaka which lay in a valley south of Meru. She was scared when she first saw Hanuman, because he blazed brilliantly like the sun. He soon started to cry for his mother’s milk. But Anjana told him that red fruits were the food of vanaras and he could eat anything so long as it was red in color. Anjana then transformed into a deva woman and left for the heavens.

According to Uttararamayana, Anjana was a deva woman in her previous birth. She was born as a vanar because of a curse, which was broken when she gave birth to Hanuman. See Punjikasthala for more details.