314 



IDENTIFICATION OF M ANT PUR A 



the Mahendra mountain to Ceylon (Lanka). This exploit 

 would have been somewhat more difficult if Hanuman 

 had to jump from Mafusbandar to that island ; as he would 

 have been obliged to leap into the dark, for he could hardly 

 see Ceylon from a place near Chicacole 204 . 



The mountain from which Hanuman is said to have 

 jumped to Ceylon, bears to this day the name Mahendrayiri. 

 It is the same hill, near which the fierce warrior sage Parasu- 

 rama lived. This Mahendragiri is the highest and most 

 prominent peak north of Cape Comorin. It is 5,430 feet 

 high and serves the sailors as a land mark ; on its southern 

 side lies the town Pannagudi. 



On the east of the south part of the Eastern Grhats, which 

 is called there by the inhabitants also Mahendra, lies Madura, 

 and a few miles still further east lies Manaluru. It may be 

 here remarked, that Manaluru or Manipura lay formerly 

 much nearer to the sea, as India has increased considerably 

 on this side of the coast. In old legends we read, that the 

 sea encroached on some occasions to the walls of Madura. 



The Sanskrit name of this Manaluru is Manipura, and as 

 such it was the capital of the ancient Pandya kingdom. 

 Kulasekhara Pandya is mentioned both in Tamil and Telugu 

 records as the founder of Manipura,, which was otherwise 

 known by the name of Manaluru. The local traditions all 

 coincide on this point. Manipura or Manaluru was the 

 original site of the capital of the Pandya kings, which was 

 afterwards transferred to Madura in its immediate neigh- 



204 See Kamayana Kiskindhakanda, LXVII, 40—43. 



40. Aruroha nagasrestham mahendram arimardanah. 

 43. Vicacara harisrestho mahendrasamavikramah. 

 Ibidem, Sundarakanda, I, 15, 213, 214. 

 Ramayanasangraha, Sundarakanda, I, 1. 



1 , Tato Mahendrasikharat utplutya Hanuman ball 

 surasasimhike bhittva Lankabahiravatarat: 

 Mahanataka, Sundaiakapda, I, 14, 15, 126, 127. 



