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