BARACK OBAMA, the 46-year-old Illinois senator, who emerged victorious in an epic 17-month long electoral battle for Democratic party nomination, by defeating his rival Hillary Clinton, carries a ’tiny monkey god’ with him for good luck. It apparently represents Lord Hanuman.

A recent photo posted on Time’s White House Photo of the Day collection shows that Obama 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.

According to the posting, "That tiny monkey god, of course, appears to be a statue of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman. However it has not been identified by the editors and the photographer as such.

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

It is not only Obama, who carries such lucky mascots. Republican candidate John McCain carries a lucky nickel, and a lucky rubber band, which he wears around his wrist, apart from a lucky penny. He also has a lucky sweater and a lucky hotel room in New Hampshire. The information was revealed by the caption on his photo.

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

Elaborating further, he said, "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."