Prasravaṇa Giri, also called the Mālyanta mountain in the tradition, is the great mountain where Bhagavān Rāma and Lakshmaṇa lived for the four months of the rainy season (varshā-kāla). This was after Sugrīva was crowned. Rāma’s father had commanded him not to enter any city or village during his exile in the forest. So Rāma and Lakshmaṇa settled on this mountain, while Sugrīva held court nearby at Kishkindhā.

During this long wait Rāma felt some of the deepest grief of his exile. He watched the rains come and go while Sītā remained a captive. Every sight of happy couples in nature made his longing sharper.

Setting and description

Prasravaṇa Giri was a mountain of great natural grandeur and beauty in the southern forest region, close to Kishkindhā. When Rāma and Lakshmaṇa reached its slopes, Rāma described the mountain to Lakshmaṇa in detail.

Its peaks shone with rocks of white, black and red, streaked with gairika (red ochre) and other bright ores.
Dense forests of fine trees covered its slopes: sandal, maddi, aśoka, flowering jasmine, mallikā and many others.
A river flowed from the mountain towards the east. Its banks were adorned with flowering trees of every kind, so that it looked like a young woman wearing garlands. It was as beautiful as the Gaṅgā flowing from Trikūṭa.
Lakes and ponds full of lotuses lay scattered over the land.
The mountain was full of the calls of peacocks, cranes, cakravāka birds and hundreds of other birds.
Tigers, lions, bears, langurs and other forest animals moved in its depths.

Rāma and Lakshmaṇa chose a wide, comfortable cave on the heights of the mountain as their home. In front of the cave entrance lay broad flat rocks, smooth and black like cut kohl-stone. The north-eastern side of the cave was low and open. The western side rose high and kept off strong winds.

The source for this section is the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapter 27.

Rāma’s grief on the mountain

The mountain was beautiful, but its beauty sharpened Rāma’s pain at every turn. Each sight of happy pairs in nature, such as paired birds and animals rejoicing in the rains, reminded him that Sītā was far away. As the rainy season went on and Sugrīva stayed lost in the pleasures of his recovered kingdom, Rāma grew more and more troubled.

He watched the dark monsoon clouds roll in and compared them to the dark body of Rāvaṇa. He saw the lightning flash and thought of Sītā’s golden earrings. He heard the thunder and thought of the crash of Rāvaṇa’s chariot. Every part of the season spoke to him of her.

He told Lakshmaṇa his fears: that Sītā could not live without him, and that the search must begin. His grief became so sharp that it deepened into anger at Sugrīva’s failure to gather his forces.

The source for this section is the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 27–28.

The turning point

The rains ended and the autumn of Kārtika came, but Sugrīva did not move. Rāma’s patience gave way. He said to Lakshmaṇa: “The autumn has come, pure and clear. But Sugrīva is lost in pleasure. He makes no move. Go to Kishkindhā. Tell him that one who abandons a friend’s cause is the worst of all who do pāpa (sin), and that my arrows can destroy an ungrateful friend as easily as they destroyed Vāli.”

Lakshmaṇa set out from Prasravaṇa Giri, burning with anger that he could barely hold back, to carry this warning to Kishkindhā.

The source for this section is the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 29–30.

What the mountain stands for

Prasravaṇa Giri marks the quiet time of waiting and suffering in the Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa. In those months Rāma could not act without an army and could only endure. The beauty of the mountain and the long wait there are the outer and inner sides of one time: calm outside, and inside full of longing and resolve. From this mountain the last part of the Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa began, when Rāma sent Lakshmaṇa to claim the promise of the alliance and to begin the great search towards the south.

Sources

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 26–29
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 27–28
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 29–30