ECOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIOURAL APPRAISAL OF TAIL CARRIAGE IN THE DIETY HANUMAN AND COMPARISON WITH THE COMMON LANGUR, PRESBYTIS ENTELLUS : A PROBLEM IN MYTHOZOOLOGY

Hanuman (the powerful monkey god-head of Hindu religion, mythology and art) is here identified zoologically as the common South Asian langur, Presbytis entellus (Dufresne) The ecology and behaviour of its mode of tail carriage, as depicted in statues, stone reliefs and numerous paintings, are discussed in terms of the two main styles in nature, e.g. a northern style with the tail looped forward over the back and a Southern style with the tail looped backward in a S-shape away from the body. The probable reasons why artists depict only the southern style are discussed.