Mother Anjani and the monkey king Kesari prayed devotedly to Lord Shiva for a child. Through the blessing of Vayu, the wind god, and divine grace, Hanuman was born on the full-moon day of Chaitra. And so he is called Pavanputra, Anjaniputra and Kesarinandan. In many traditions he is regarded as the eleventh Rudra avatar of Shiva.
Even as a child he had amazing strength. One morning, feeling hungry, he mistook the rising red sun for a ripe fruit and leapt into the sky to catch it.
To save the world from darkness, Indra hurled his thunderbolt, which struck the child on the jaw (hanu), and he fell unconscious to the earth. From this mark on his jaw he got the name "Hanuman".
Grieving over his son, Vayu withdrew the air from the world, and every living being began to choke. Then all the gods came, revived little Hanuman and gave him many blessings: no fear of fire, water, wind or any weapon, the power to take any form he wished, and boundless strength.