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Religious association
Hanuman – the monkey God was a loyal devotee of Rama, one of the ten incarnation’s of Lord Vishnu.
An army of monkeys or the Vanara sena (army) under the leadership of Hanuman was instrumental in the defeat of the demon king Ravana of Lanka, when he fought against Lord Rama.
The other species of monkey that is revered in India, the rhesus monkey, is one of the best-known species of monkeys.
Mahakapi Jataka - Buddha
Abhinandanatha
The Buddha is believed to have taken an earlier avatara as a monkey, while the emblem of the fourth Jaina Tirthankara Abhinandanatha was a monkey.
In the village of Naravi, Belthangadi taluk of Dakshin Kannada district, Malekudiya tribals perform an annual ritual to propitiate the monkeys.
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