Anegundi, believed to be the monkey kingdom of Kishkindha in the epic of Ramayana, is at a distance of 5 km from the historical site of Hampi. Anjanadri hill, the birth place of monkey-god Hanuman, and the mountain Rishimuka are the other places near Anegundi associated with Ramayana.
It is said to have one of the oldest plateaus on the planet, estimated to be 3,000 million years old. So, only local story-tellers refer to Anegundi as the maternal home of Bhoodevi (Mother Earth).
Neolithic history is represented in this region by Mourya Mane, a several-thousand-year-old ‘Stone Age Colony’. Several Neolithic dwellings still bear paintings that are clear and intact even to this day. “This is the rare human settlement where we will find traces of Microlithic, Megalithic and Neolithic age of human life at one same spot. Anegundi area is much more than the Vijayanagar empire, and as is old as the planet. Till date, this village is a living heritage site in its true sense Anegundi is best visited along with Hampi.
is the mythical monkey (Vanara) kingdom of the Vanara King Sugriva, the younger brother of Vali, in the Indian mythology of Ramayana times. This was the kingdom where he ruled with the assistance of his minister, Hanuman.
This kingdom is identified to be the regions around the Tungabhadra river (then known as Pampa Saras) near Hampi in Karnataka. The mountain near to the river with the name Risyamuka 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", "monkeys" or "forest-animals". 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.
After Vanara king Bali had been slain by Raghava Rama, Sugriva, the younger brother of the king, regained possession of Kishkindhya, and along with it, the lordship of the widowed queen, Tara. Rama, meanwhile dwelt on the beautiful breast of the Malyavat Mountains (a mountain range, in Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu) for four months, duly worshipped by Sugriva all the while.
At (3,146) the mountain named Hrishyamukha (Risyamuka) where Sugriva and Hanuman spent their exile, due to fear of king Vali is mentioned.
Sugriva is mentioned as the ruler of the forest-kingdom Kishkindhya and the king of the Vanaras (forest-dwellers), installed on throne by Raghava Rama and to whom all foresters and apes, monkeys and bears owe allegiance.
Raghava Rama slew the Rakshasa king Ravana in battle and installed Vibhishana, Ravana's younger brother, on the throne of Lanka. Thus he regained his wife Sita from the clutches of Ravana. He then left Lanka and re-entered Kishkindhya with king Sugriva. Having arrived at Kishkindhya, he installed the old king Vali's son Angada as prince-regent of that kingdom. After that he left to his own capital-city Ayodhya of Kosala Kingdom
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