Eastern Spirituality

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Kishkindha (Kannada: Kiṣkindhe; IAST: Kiṣkindhā) is the monkey (Vanara) kingdom of the Vanara King Sugriva, the younger brother of Vali, in the Indian theology of Ramayana times. This was the kingdom where he ruled with the assistance of his friend, Hanuman.
View of Kishkindha

This kingdom is identified to be the regions around the Tungabhadra river (then known as Pampa Saras) near Hampi and belongs to Koppal district, Karnataka. The mountain near to the river with the name Rishimukha where Sugriva lived with Hanuman, during the period of his exile also is found with the same name.

During the time of Ramayana, i.e., Treta Yuga, the whole region was within the dense forest called Dandaka Forest extending from Vindhya range to the South Indian peninsula. Hence this kingdom was considered to be the kingdom of Vanaras which in Sanskrit means "apes" or "forest-humans"(Van+Nar). During Dwapara Yuga, the Pandava Sahadeva was said to visit this kingdom, as per the epic Mahabharata, during his southern military campaign to collect tribute for Yudhisthira's Rajasuya sacrifice.

Glossary Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z