Rediff

Washington, Jun 9: It's unusual. But, it's a fact.

Barack Obama, the Democratic party's presidential nominee, is seeking the blessings of Hindu God Hanuman in his battle for the White House.

The 46-year-old senator from Illinois, who defeated his rival Hillary Clinton in an epic 17-month long electoral battle for Democratic party nomination, carries a 'tiny monkey God' apparently representing Hanuman with him for good luck.

A recent photo posted on Time's White House Photo of the Day collection shows that the first ever Black-American nominee of a major US party for the Presidential elections carries with him a bracelet belonging to an American soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler's lucky chit, a tiny monkey God and a tiny Madonna and child.

That 'tiny monkey God,' of course, appears to be a statue of the Hindu monkey God, Hanuman, says the posting but editors and the photographer have not identified it as such.

Obama, whose father was a Kenyan and mother a white woman from Kansas, spent initial days of his life in Indonesia where Hinduism is a popular religion.

In addition to a lucky penny, Republican candidate John McCain carries a lucky nickel, and a lucky rubber band, which he wears around his wrist. He also has a lucky sweater and a lucky hotel room in New Hampshire, says the caption on his photo.

"People give Clinton lucky items all the time on the campaign trail," said a Clinton spokesman.

"Recently, for example, she's received a lucky coin, a lucky handkerchief that a woman in Texas gave to her that she sometimes keeps in her pocket, and a lucky bracelet that a woman in Ohio gave her that she wears every day. She keeps all of them." he added.