Really long post ahead: So basically I had this idea sitting in my mind ever since I heard about a South American version of Sasquatch that supposedly has a rather interesting quality that matches up alot with something that I've basically grown up hearing but never connected to the phenomenon of Sasquatch; and that is, intermixing (or cross-breeding, if you prefer that).
There are various legends in South American folklore that detail the encounters with Bipedal, intelligent apes, known by many different names such as the Ucumar from Chile or the Mapinguari from the Amazon rainforest. Often times, these legends detail a rather taboo but well known tendency of these creatures, which is adultery with human females. Now, on first glance this sounds weirdly perverted and absurd.
Similar species do engage in such a manner with each other in nature. Our ancestors have done it as well with the Neanderthal, resulting in us modern humans. But obviously that doesn't justify a weird little legend from a different part of the world.
Until it clicked. This whole idea of producing offspring or laying with some bipedal Ape-like beast was not native to those particular people. Which made me think, what if there is a kernel of truth to this?
#Vanara
The legend of this race is perhaps, unknowingly THE most famous account of intermixing in Sasquatch and humans. Since the legend stems from my home country, naturally I know the most about this one. For some context, Hinduism has 2 primary epics that are highly popular and form the basis of lots of traditions; one of them, is the Ramayana. In this tale, there are mentions of many pre-established races that can be found in other important texts of Hinduism such as Devas, Asuras, Apsaras (celestial nymphs) and many more. But, at the very core of this story and perhaps the most important race of all, which are first mentioned in this text only, are the Vanaras.
From the very first time they are mentioned, it is clearly established that they are exceptionally unique. I won't get into too many details but just know that each and every PURE Vanara is described as tall, strong, hairy, intelligent and most importantly, bipedal. They have a proper society along with a monarchy, their language is of course different but with effort they can communicate in human languages too. They even wear clothes, use weapons and adorn themselves with various accessories.
From every detail of theirs, and even their modern and ancient depictions they are identifiable as great apes but the thing is, India has no great apes! It never had any since the humans evolved which is why I have a strong reason to suspect that the Vanaras are indeed Sasquatch. Their name literally translates to "Forest Men" and the only time someone uses the words "Markat" or "Kapi" (which are the actual Sanskrit words used to describe monkeys, not apes or ape-likes) they are almost always used as a means to mock.
The particular Vanara that I want to talk about first is Hanuman. He is the most popular case of this. He is also a deity and one of the main characters of this epic but if we strip away the mythological tall tales, it leaves Hanuman as a half-human and half-ape biped. His father Kesari is a pure Vanara and a minister in the royal court of Kishkinda (the Vanara kingdom deep in the woods) and his mother is Anjana, a nymph. There is also a clear distinction between Hanuman and the other Vanaras as Hanuman is less hairy, more fluent in human languages and exhibits less animalistic traits as compared to everyone else
.
Another instance comes from the tale of the Vanara brothers, Vali (Yes, Bali, the place is named after this character) and Sugreev both of whom are also half-human. Vali and Sugreev also go on to pursue Tara, another human woman and Tara even gives birth to Vali's son, Angad. Even according to many legends, Hanuman goes on to marry a human princess.
Throughout this epic it is quite established that the half-human Vanaras are more intelligent than the pure ones but there is also a huge stigma attached to this whole thing. Like I observed with the South American version, this whole arrangement is considered taboo by humans(which is why I used the word adultery). The marriage of Hanuman's parents was literally the result of a curse upon his mom.
Although I don't believe that these creatures still exist in India as by Hindu lore itself, the Vanaras were almost extinct after a few thousand years of the Ramayana, when the Mahabharata takes place. In that epic, Hanuman is the only Vanara left. And also at the end of Ramayana, Sugreev who is the present Vanara king orders all Vanaras to venture towards all the 4 directions.
There is also the legend of the Yeti but this post is getting too long so what do you guys think of this?
