The origin of Panchamukhi Hanuman can be traced in Ramayana. During the war, between Lord Rama and Ravana.Ravana took help of Mahiravanka who is the king of Pathala.Lord Hanuman in order to protect Lord Ram and Lakshman formed a fortress with his tail.Mahiravana took the form of Vibeeshana and took Lord Ram and Lakshman to pathala loka.Hanuman entered pathala loka in search of Rama and Lakshmana, He found out that to kill Mahiravana he had to extinguish five lamps burning in five different directions at the same time,so he has taken the Panchamukhi form with Hanuman, Hayagriva, Narasimha,Garuda and Varaha faces and extinguished the lamps and killed Mahiravana.
The significance of the five faces of the Hanuman is as follows:
1. East facing Anjaneya to grant humanity Ishta Siddhi.
2. South facing Karala Ugraveera Narasimha to grant humanity Abhista Siddhi.
3. West facing Mahaveera Garuda to grant humanity Sakala Sowbhagya.
4. North facing Lakshmi Varaha to grant humanity Dhana Prapthi.
5. Urdhva Mukha (atop) being Hayagriva to grant humanity Sarva Vidya Jaya Prapthi.
Design: Made in heavy shining brass.
Brass is well known for its grasping capacity.It grasps the divine spirit upto 30%, when compared to other metals.The spiritual vibrations are attracted towards these shining idols easily.
Dimensions: 8.75 inches (H) x 4.75 inches (L) x 4.75 inches (W)
Weight: 3.5 kgs
Importance of Idol worship: Idols are not the idle fancies of sculptors,but shining channels through which the heart of the devotee is attracted to and flows towards God. Though the image is worshipped, the devotee feels the presence of the Lord in it and pours out his devotion unto it.Regular worship, Puja and other modes of demonstrating our inner feeling of recognition of Divinity in the idol unveils the Divinity latent in it.This is truly a wonder and a miracle.The picture comes to life.The idol speaks. It will answer your questions and solve your problems.The God in you has the power to awaken the latent Divinity in the idol.The lives of Mirabai, Sant Tukaram,Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Shri Yogananda are a few instances to prove the point.They proved beyond doubt that idol worship has its own brighter side and through simple faith and intense devotion one can realize God through it.
Idols are the "finite representation of the Infinite".As per Vishnu Samhita (ch 29, v 55-7), persuasively endorses the use of imagery (idols) and puts it:"Without a form how can God be mediated upon? If (He is) without any form, where will the mind fix itself? When there is nothing for the mind to attach itself to,it will slip away from meditation or will glide into a state of slumber.Therefore the wise will meditate on some form, remembering,however,that the form is a superimposition and not a reality."