Why did Hanuman not carry the whole army on his back? What was the need to build a bridge?

Hanuman was very strong, and could also change his size at will. But even if he became as tall as the highest mountain, he couldn’t possibly carry the sheer number of monkeys that were called by Sugreev from all directions. Sugreev commands Hanuman to summon the monkeys, bears and apes from the whole world and he specifically calls out different locations, starting from the Himalayas to the grasslands, forests, caves near sea  and so on. Hanuman sends his messengers, who are high jumpers and fast as the wind, to seek everyone out . The cavalry that finally assembles is as huge as the ocean, with the following numbers with their respective Generals**:


Shatabali brought 10,000 Crore monkeys
Sushena brought 1,000 Crore monkeys
Taara (not to be confused with Tara, the wife of Vali) brought 1,000 Crore monkeys
Kesari brought thousands of armies full of countless monkeys
Gavaaksha brought 1,000 Crore monkeys
Dhuumra brought 2,000 Crore bears
Panasa brought 3 Crore monkeys
Nila bought 10 Crore monkeys
Gavaya brought 5 Crore monkeys
Dariimukha brought 1,000 Crore monkeys
Mainda brought 1,000 Crore monkeys
Dvivida brought 1,000 Crore monkeys
Gaja brought 3 Crore monkeys
Jambavanta brought 10 Crore bears
Rumana brought 100 Crore monkeys
Gandhamaadana brought 10,000 Crore + 110,000 Crore monkeys
Angad brought 1,000 Padmas (10 to the power 27) + 100 Shanku (100,000 Crore or 10 to the power 12 or 1 Trillion)
Tara (this is also a different Tara) brought 5 Crore monkeys
Indrajaanu brought 11 Crore monkeys
Rambha brought 100 Ayuta + 1,000 Ayuta (10 to the power 9)
Durmukh brought 2 Crore monkeys
Hanuman brought 1,000 Crore monkeys
Nala brought 100 Crore + 1,100 monkeys
Dadimukha brought 10 Crore monkeys
Sharabha, Kumuda, Vahni, also even Ramha brought an unknown number of monkeys, probably too many to count

Grand Total: You do the math…
**Refer to Kishkindha Kanda – Sarga 39 for details

Once all the monkeys had assembled, Sugreev summarizes the battle strength of his army to Ram, and tells him the count of monkeys that will be joining the war. He uses the ancient Indian numbering system with units such as Aayuta (1000), Shanku (1 Trillion), Arbuda (1000 Shanku or 1000 Trillion) etc. (Kishkindha Kanda – Sarga 38)

So, it would’ve been pointless for Hanuman to carry all these monkeys in groups because if he drops one group in Lanka and heads back to gather another group, the first group might get attacked and killed by Lankans. But since these monkeys had super fast speed, it made sense to build a bridge so that the whole army arrives in Lanka together.

Why did Hanuman not carry Lord Ram to Sri Lanka? Why was there a need to bring the monkey army?

Being only a human being, Ram was still considerably stronger than celestials. The Army of Ravana consisted of fighters that had bested Indra, the king of Gods. It was important to take the monkey army alongside them as the monkeys were a huge help, considering that Ravana had billions of strong demons  under his control and fighting them head on would only lead to wastage of time. Even during the fight that ensued, there are several instances wherein both the demons and the monkeys are performing impossible feats, such as uprooting Sala trees and using them as weapons (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 46 – Verse 33, 34), breaking off mountain peaks thereby crushing elephants, horses, camels, demons etc underneath them (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 67 – Verse 9 to 18). Almost the entire ‘Yuddha Kanda’ (the section on the final war) is full of similar instances of extreme battle. The army of Ravana had countless generals who very strong and every single fight of those generals has been properly elaborated in the Yuddha Kanda.


Ram and Laxman were also very strong and given the chance, it was possible that they could eliminate the entire army of Ravana without the help of the monkey army. The prowess exhibited by Ram, by single handedly eliminating 14,000 demons in Janasthana had scared all the demons and they used to constantly remind Ravana of this feat performed by Ram (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 64 – Verse 12). But  fighting the entire army alone would unnecessarily take more time, which they did not have as Sita had threatened suicide (Sundara Kanda – Sarga 38). It was best that they took help from an army to fight off small battles on their behalf and take care of the leaders on their own. Had Ram and Laxman fought Ravana without an army, it would not have resulted in early rescue, but they would have wasted more time instead.  So it was pointless for Hanuman to carry only Ram and Laxman to Lanka, leaving the army behind, because then the battle would take months to complete.

Aside from this, there was another compelling reason for Ram to bring every single monkey with him to Lanka. Ravana had a boon from Lord Brahma, that made him invincible in battle against all kinds of divine beings. The list of those beings did not include humans, a  mistake that cost Ravana his life. However, humans were not the only beings that Ravana failed to mention in the boon. He also did not make any mention of monkeys, which technically made every single monkey qualified enough to slay Ravana, thereby increasing the chances of victory. It does not take a skilled war tactician to figure out that greater numbers mean higher chances of victory. Bringing the monkeys along by building the bridge was an excellent battle tactic by Ram

Where is the bridge that Ram built? Who is more powerful - God Ram or Devil Ravan? Would a god seek the help of another god to murder a third god?

The Ram Setu bridge was built by was Nala, the son of Vishwakarma  (the architect of the gods). Unlike popular belief, the bridge was not built in twelve years. Out of the total fourteen years of exile, Ram stayed in the forest happily for the first ten years, moving from one hermitage to another (Aranya Kanda – Sarga 11 – Verse 24 to 28). Later, they all moved to Panchavati on the advise of Sage Agastya, who was able to see the next course of Ramayana through his asceticism (Aranya Kanda – Sarga 13 – Verse 15 to 17). The events leading up to the extermination of Ravana happened in about final 2 years of exile, whose timeline has been discussed throughout the entire Kishkindha Kanda.

Considering that the events of Ramayana happened thousands of years ago, its highly unlikely that an artificial bridge would hold out for that long. So its not logical to go on a quest in order to locate that bridge. Still, remnants of the bridge remain to this day and can be easily spotted in Google Maps. Many researchers and marine biologists have even discussed the bridge and its origins at great length. There's also a video released by the Science Channel, sponsored by Discovery Communications around the mystical bridge.

Regarding the question of who was strongest between Ravana, Hanuman and Ram; there’s no doubt that Ram  was the strongest, followed by Hanuman and then Ravana. Ram was easily able to disarm, defeat and humiliate Ravana in front of his army and then allow him to go home (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 59). Also, considering that Ram was able to kill Ravana in the final battle in a fair fight, Ram was definitely stronger than Ravana. The only reason that the final battle lasted for over a week was because Ravana's boons were keeping him alive, despite receiving several mortal wounds from Ram's bow. Hanuman was also stronger than Ravana as he was able to bring Ravana down on his knees and made him cough up blood with a single punch (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 59 – Verse 114 to 116). Ravana almost fainted after being hit by Hanuman's mighty blow.

Now, between Ram and Hanuman, Ram was stronger because of the feat he performed after the death of Indrajit. He single handedly eliminated millions of demons by invoking the Gandharva Astra, that allows the caster to travel at the speed of light (details in a different section). This feat left everyone in awe. The helpless demons could do nothing but flee. After eliminating the demons, Ram speaks to Sugreev, Vibhishan, Hanuman, Jambavan, Mainda and Dvivida, who were standing close by and tells them that the wonderful power within this weapon lies only with either Ram himself or with the three eyed Lord Rudra (the Lord of Destruction). Throughout the entire war, the brave monkey warriors had fought with extreme valor and bested several thousand demons and their Generals by themselves. But none had accomplished a feat such as this and were happy witnessing the prowess of Ram first hand (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 93 – Verse – 37 to 39). Everyone knew that Ram was very strong, but after this incident, everyone was in awe of the strength and prowess of Ram. Even when Sita was asked for the trial by fire by Ram, Laxman quietly started to make preparations for the pyre. None of the monkey or bear warriors, including Hanuman, had the courage to object and interrupt to this. They beheld Ram, who looked like the god of death himself and were even scared to directly look at him (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 116 – Verse 22). From this, we can establish that Ram was definitely stronger than the combined  strength of the monkey forces.

For the last question about gods seeking help from other gods, there were no gods participating in this battle. This was a fight involving humans, monkeys, bears and demons.

What happened to Sita after being abducted by Ravana

Some people tell stories of how Sita left her dedication towards Lord Ram and instead got tempted by the riches of Lanka. This page specifically refutes the myth of Sita's wavering heart.

Sita never stepped into Ravana’s palace. She was taken directly to Ashok Vatika (Ashok Garden) and was constantly guarded by female demons. When Hanuman was searching for Sita, he looked everywhere in the city of Lanka but couldn’t find her. When he finally checked Ashok Vatika, he saw Sita and was instantly depressed on her condition. Despite being the daughter of the king of Mithila and the wife of the scion of Ayodhya, she was dressed in rags. She had become completely thin and weak due to continued fasting and her face was gloomy due to continued crying (Sundara Kanda – Sarga 15).

Ravana enters Ashok Vatika and attempts to persuade Sita to give in, by offering her all the comforts of the world, along with all kinds of riches. He also threatens her and states that none could stand up to him in fight and she should abandon her reluctance. However, Sita turns down all the offers of Ravana and tells him to either gracefully return her to Ram, or face death at the hands of Ram (Sundara Kanda – Sarga 21)
Hearing this, Ravana gives Sita two months to consider the offer. If she still does not accept Ravana at the end of two months, he threatens to kill her and eat her in breakfast (Sundara Kanda – Sarga 22). After Ravana leaves the garden, Sita attempts suicide by strangling herself using her own hair (Sundara Kanda – Sarga 28). After some deliberation, Hanuman decides to confront Sita and inform her about the upcoming invasion on Lanka by Ram. They both have a conversation about Ram and Hanuman convinces Sita that he truly is a messenger from Ram. Hanuman further asks Sita to remain patient and await Ram, who would come to rescue her (Sundara Kanda – Sarga 37). Towards the end of their conversation, Sita informs Hanuman that she will not wait for the whole duration of two months allotted by Ravana and will kill herself if she is not rescued within the next one month (Sundara Kanda – Sarga 38)

Moreover, when Ram finally invades Lanka, before the actual battle even starts, Ravana decides to fool Sita into believing that her husband had perished, by using an illusion. He calls for Vidyujjuha, who was a knower of conjuring tricks and asks him to create a fake replica of Ram’s severed head, along with his bow. Vidyujjuha creates the items and Ravana heads straight for Ashok Vatika. He then throws the fake head of Ram near Sita and tells her to submit to him (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 31). Sita starts crying and asks Ravana to kill her also and place her severed head next to Ram’s head; and place her remaining body at the spot where Ram’s body lay in the battlefield (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 32). Meanwhile, Ravana is called by one of his ministers to discuss the battle formation and Ravana leaves Ashok Vatika accompanied by Vidyujjuha . As soon as they leave, the fake head and bow disappear in front of Sita (Yuddha Kanda – Sarga 32).

All the above points are proof that Sita never once felt a change of heart and was ever so devoted to her husband Ram.