The incidents connected with Shri Ram, Mata Sita and Hanuman are always dear to us. One gets to know the how beautiful a relation between god and a devotee can be through their tales. Shri Hanuman has a very loving place as a special son to Mata Sita. It was he who discovered Mata Sita in Lanka in the clutches of Ravan, and she knew if it was not for him, Bhagwan Ram would have never known her whereabouts. She always treated him as her son and had great affection for him.
After Bhagwan Ram was crowned king, he once decided to arrange a feast for all the Vanaar chiefs who helped him win the war over Ravan. He told Hanuman to take care of all the arrangements for the feast and help Mata Sita in cooking food for all of them. Sincerely following Shri Ram’s orders, Hanuman works hard in making all arrangements for the feast and not taking even a minute‘s rest in the process. Mata Sita who observes him feels very happy for his relentless service. She feels that for all the hard work he is doing, he deserves a special meal served to him by her, just as a mother serves food to her child. She calls for him, and asks him to have lunch before the feast starts so that he will get the energy to serve all the vaanars who come for the feast.
Hanuman follows whatever order Shri Ram or Mata Sita give him. In the same way, he agrees to Mata Sita’s words, comes and starts eating the food served by Mata Sita. He goes on eating whatever is served to him and finishes all the food prepared for the feast. This surprises Mata Sita and she hurriedly prepared more food to satisfy his hunger. Hanuman ate that too and asked for more. Mata Sita cooked some more food and again it got finished in seconds. The situation was that, nothing was left in the kitchen to serve him, or to anybody who came for the feast.
Mata Sita got worried, and rushed to seek Bhagwan Ram’s help. She told the situation to Ramji and asked for a solution. Bhagwan Ram smiled and said to Sita that Hanuman was none other than one of the eleven Rudra incarnations, and he bears all the three worlds in his stomach, and it was only through sincere prayer that his hunger would be satisfied. Shri Ram asks her to give a तुलसी दल (Tulasi Dal) to Hanuman and pray to him. She offers the same to him and says ओम नमः शिवाय (Om Namah Shivayah) only then did Hanuman’s hunger gets satisfied. The तुलसी दल is offered to Bhagwan Vishnu, and when it was offered to Hanuman, it is as equal as offering it to Bhagwan Ram, and as Hanuman is an ardent follower of Bhagwan Ram, his hunger gets satisfied with the small तुलसी दल.
This incident shows the respect what Bhagwan Ram and Hanuman ji share towards each other, and how well they understand each other. Not only dear to Bhagwan Ram, he earns the greatest regard of Mata Sita. Hence in every portrait of the four (Bhagwan Ram, Mata Sita, Lakshman standing and Hanuman bowing to Shri Ram’s feet), one can see Mata Sita’s Hand always blessing her dear son, which is beautiful sight to behold.