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{{Short description|Son of Vali and Tara}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}

{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| name = Angada
| parents = [[Bali (Ramayana)|Vali]] (father), [[Tara (Ramayana)|Tara]] (mother)
| children = Dhruva (son)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/dhruva|title = Dhruva, Dhruvā: 33 definitions|date = 29 June 2012}}</ref>
| image = The monkey prince Angad is first sent to give diplomacy one last chance.jpg
| caption = Angada at Ravana's court
| affiliation = [[Vanara]], [[Vaishnavism]]
| texts = [[Ramayana]]
| region = [[Kishkindha]]
}}

'''Angada''' ([[Sanskrit]]: अङ्गदः, [[IAST]]: Aṅgada) is a legendary [[vanara]] in [[Hinduism]]. He helps [[Rama]] find his wife [[Sita]] and fight her abductor, [[Ravana]], in the epic [[Ramayana]]. He is the son of [[Vali (Ramayana)|Vali]] and prince of [[Kishkindha]], and is later crowned as the kingdom's monarch.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Who was Angad? What is Angad's role in Ramayana?|url=https://www.timesnownews.com/spiritual/religion/article/who-was-angad-what-is-angads-role-in-ramayana/578108|access-date=2020-08-03|website=www.timesnownews.com|language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Angada smites the demon Narantaka.jpg|thumb|Angada slays Narantaka]]

== Legend ==
Angada is a son of the powerful vanara king [[Vali (Ramayana)|Bali]] and his wife Tara. He is the nephew of [[Sugriva]]. After Rama and Sugriva kill his father, Angada joins Rama's forces to rescue mata Sita from Ravana's captivity.

Angada and Rama are instrumental in reconciling [[Rama]] and his brother, [[Lakshmana]], with [[Sugriva]], after the king fails to fulfill his promise to help Rama find and rescue his wife. Together, they are able to convince Sugriva to honour his pledge to Rama, instead of spending his time carousing and drinking.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Narayan|first=R. K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZTc1xwm8XEC&q=Angada+and+Tara+lakshmana&pg=PT98|title=The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic|date=2006-08-29|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-4406-2327-1|language=en}}</ref> Sugriva then arranges for ''vanaras'' to help [[Rama]] and organises the monkey army that will battle Ravana's demonic host. Angada leads the particular search party, which consists of [[Hanuman]] and [[Jambavan]]ta and is able to find [[Sita]], [[Rama|Rama's]] wife.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Subramaniam|first=Neela|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XDvXkEgcXwsC&q=Angada+Hanuman+Jambavan+south&pg=PA72|title=Ramayana for Children|date=2005|publisher=Sura Books|isbn=978-81-7478-489-6|language=en}}</ref>

A legend goes by that no one could move Angada's leg. Just before the war, Rama sends Angada to Ravana's court as a peace messenger to give him one last chance to send Sita back to him and stop the war. Angada travels to Ravana's court, and issues him a last warning but Ravana retorts by stating that his father, [[Bali (Ramayana)|Vali]], is his friend. Angada, however, rejects Ravana's stance, and retorts by saying that there was nothing as divine as serving Rama, and then proceeds to mock Ravana for his foolishness and pride, in front of the entire court. He challenges the present courtiers to move his leg, upon which he promises that he would retreat from the island, forgetting about rescuing Sita. Almost all courtiers take turns to move his leg, but fail to even give it a budge. Even [[Indrajit]], the most powerful son of Ravana, is unable to move the leg. Seeing Indrajit defeated, Ravana rises in fury, and proceeds to accept the challenge, upon which Angada moves his leg out of the way, and Ravana's crown falls off.  When the king reaches for his crown, Angada rhetorically wonders why Ravana wishes to touch his leg, and that touching the feet of Rama would be much more fruitful instead. He hurls the crown with such force that it is supposed to have landed at Rama's feet. The prince flies away before Ravana could seize him. Rama is pleased by this act of Angada.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sah|first=Anusuya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRzBDwAAQBAJ&q=Angada+legs&pg=PA81|title=Valmiki's Ramayana- The Saga of a Scion Born in Ayodhya|date=2019-11-23|publisher=Blue Rose Publishers|language=en}}</ref>

In the Battle of Lanka that ensues, Angada slays many great warriors from [[Lanka]], including [[Ravana]]'s son [[Narantaka]], and the chief general of [[Ravana]]'s army, Mahaparshva.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mittal|first=J. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7gOBW8oDFgC&q=Angada+Narantaka&pg=PA200|title=History Of Ancient India (a New Version) : From 7300 Bb To 4250 Bc|date=2006|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-269-0615-4|language=en}}</ref>

Angada marries the eldest daughter of the vanara Mainda, and has a son, Dhruva.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/angada|title = Angada, Aṅgada: 25 definitions|date = 29 June 2012}}</ref>

When his uncle Sugriva decides to retire from the earth and return to his father, [[Surya]], he crowns Angada as the next king of Kishkindha, and of the vanaras.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timesnownews.com/spiritual/religion/article/who-was-angad-what-is-angads-role-in-ramayana/578108 | title=Who was Angad? What is Angad's role in Ramayana? }}</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
*http://mythfolklore.net/india/encyclopedia/angada.htm

{{Ramayana}}

[[Category:Vanara in the Ramayana]]