Panch Mukha Hanuman is the form of Hanuman in which he has five faces. This is the Virata Rupa of Hanuman – a gigantic form that is beyond imagination of human mind. There are two forms of Panchmukha Hanuman – in one all the five heads are that of Hanuman. In another form – only one head is of Hanuman and the other heads are that of Hayagriva, Narasimha, Varaha and Garuda.

As Hayagriva, Narasimha and Varaha are incarnations of Vishnu, Panchmukha Hanuman is a combined avatar of Vishnu and Hanuman.
The five-faced Hanuman is widely believed to be Tantric representation of Hanuman as he is the perfect Siddha.
A story associated with Panchamukha Hanuman states that Hanuman took this form to save Sri Ram and Lakshman who were captured by Mahiravan and Ahiravana during the Ram-Ravan war. The demons took them the netherworld and kept confusing the brothers with their black magic. Hanuman fought a fierce battle with the demons but was not able to defeat them. The only way to defeat Mahiravan and Ahiravana was to extinguish five lamps in five different directions simultaneously. When a spiritual aspirant does sincere atma vichara under the guidance of a Sathguru, the Lord of Self Enquiry, Pancha Mukha Hanuman, reveals the divine truth to that seeker through His five faces.
 To extinguish the five lamps simultaneously Hanuman appeared in his Virata Rupa with five faces

Through three faces, Lord Panch Mukha Hanuman, reveals the soul's past, present and future and its life in these three phases in a sthoola or concrete, material body. Through the fourth face, Lord Pancha Mukha Hanuman gives instruction to the soul on transcending the aforementioned three phases and thus dissolving its limited individuality in the limitless universality of the Lord through the path of saranagathi, i.e., perfect surrender to the Divine Will. Through the fifth face, Lord Panchmukha Hanuman initiates the sincere soul into this sublime process. Thus Lord PanchaMukha Hanuman is the Divine Helper of all those who seek atma gnana. He ensures our enthusiasm during the atma vichara process and motivates us on the road to atma gnana. He helps us find the correct answer to the "Who am I?" question. All those who do atma vichara and all those who seek atma gnana should pray to Lord Panch Mukha Hanuman and sincerely seek His blessings. May He help us in our quest for atma gnana! Many scholars are of the belief that the stories associated with Panchamukhi Hanuman are later creation by followers of Hanuman Cult. This is because these stories are not found in the Ramayana.