Hanuman, together with Ganesha and Garuda, is one of the three principal animal deities in the Hindu Mythology that has evolved after the Vedic Period in Indian history. He is loved all over India as the monkey-god who so faithfully served Rama, Vishnu's seventh avatar (incarnation), in his war against Ravana, the demon king. Hanuman is a major deity in North India where he is regarded as a propitiator against all evil. Temples to him have been erected all over that part of the country each small villages and towns having their own Hanuman shrine to keep the populace within the ambit of his able and benign prowess. The monkey god is the son of Vayu, the wind god, and Anjana, an apsara who was turned into a monkey by a curse.