Anurag Thakur Calls Lord Hanuman the ‘First Space Traveller’ During National Space Day Event

BJP leader and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur sparked conversation on Saturday after telling students that Lord Hanuman could be considered the “first space traveller.” Speaking at a PM Shri School in Una, Himachal Pradesh, on the occasion of National Space Day, Thakur urged students to look beyond textbooks and connect more deeply with India’s ancient traditions and knowledge.

Addressing the gathering, the Hamirpur MP asked the students, “Who was the first person to travel in space?” After a brief pause — and with students’ responses unclear — Thakur smiled and said, “I think it was Lord Hanuman.”

He later shared a clip from the event on social media platform X, captioning it: “Pawansut Hanuman Ji… the first astronaut.”

Explaining his reasoning, Thakur said, “We tend to view the world only through today’s lens. But unless we understand our thousands of years of tradition, knowledge, and culture, we’ll continue seeing ourselves the way the British defined us.”

Encouraging students and teachers to broaden their perspective, he added, “I would like to request the principal and all of you — think beyond the textbooks. Explore our country’s knowledge systems, our traditions. If you do that, you’ll discover so much more.”

His remarks came amid growing excitement around India’s advancements in space exploration. Earlier this year, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the second Indian astronaut to travel to space, following in the footsteps of Rakesh Sharma’s landmark mission in 1984.

Globally, the first human to journey into space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who completed an orbit of Earth in 1961 during a historic 108-minute flight.

Thakur’s comments add to the ongoing debate about blending mythology with modern science — a discussion that often surfaces in the context of India’s scientific achievements and cultural heritage.