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| photo © peter stoeckl |
Semnopithecus entellus (Dufresne, 1797)
Hanuman Langur.
Seeing black eyes hidden in black faces, it is hard even from close distance to tell where a Hanuman Langur is looking at, and whether their eyes are open at all.
Why are those black eyes so well hidden in their black faces? A possible answer may be that staring eyes are always likely to be interpreted as aggressive among primates and other mammals. So maybe the disappearance of dark eyes in dark faces has been encouraged by evolution as a means of avoiding aggression within members of langur tribes.
In the epos of Ramayana, mythology offers another explanation for the Hanuman Langur's black face, hands and feet. Hanuman, the cunning general of a monkey army, came to rescue Sita, the wife of prince Rama, from a giant named Ravana who kept her in captivity on the island of Lanka. On that occasion, Hanuman also stole some delicious Mango fruits from the giant's garden. Unfortunately, Hanuman was seized by the giant while stealing the precious Mangos, and for that crime he was sentenced to death by being burned alive on a funeral pile. Well, the wise and courageous Hanuman succeeded in extinguishing the flames, and he managed to escape - but with hands, feet, and face badly charred.
So that is why langurs have black faces. And why they are treated so well by the grateful people of India: for having imported the Mango.
Pushkar, Rajasthan, 30 October, 2006.