Mani Parbat & Sugriv Parbat, Ayodhya: The Sanjivini Hill of Hanuman

Mani Parbat and the adjacent Sugriv Parbat are two small hills on the southern edge of old Ayodhya: each topped by an ancient stupa-like structure, and together among the most beloved local sites in the city. Children come here to play; pilgrims come for the Ramayana legend that gives the hills their meaning.

The Sanjivini legend

The Ramayana’s Yuddha Kanda recounts that during the great war at Lanka, Lakshmana was struck down by the demon Indrajit’s Brahmastra and lay near death. The physician Sushena said only the Sanjivini: a luminous herb growing on Drona Mountain in the Himalayas: could save him.

Unable to identify the herb among countless others, Hanuman uprooted and carried the entire mountain through the sky toward Lanka. As he flew over central India, the Ramayana says a fragment of the Sanjivini hill fell here at Ayodhya: and that fragment is the small hill we know today as Mani Parbat.

The neighbouring Sugriv Parbat is named for Sugriva, the king of the vanaras (monkey kingdom) and Rama’s ally: though no specific episode marks the hill itself.

What’s here today

Both hills are topped by small shrines and stupa-shaped structures of considerable antiquity. Mani Parbat is also archaeologically interesting: the hill incorporates substantial ancient masonry that has been suggested as a Buddhist stupa from the Mauryan or Gupta period, possibly dating to the centuries when Ayodhya was known as Saketa.

The slopes are gentle and grassy; from the top of Mani Parbat there are unobstructed views across the city to the Sarayu in the north.

The Sravan Jhula Mela

The hills are the focus of the Sravan Jhula Mela: a beloved monsoon festival in which idols of Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita are brought from the city’s temples and set to swing on the branches of the trees at Mani Parbat. The mela falls on the third day of Krishna Paksha in Shravan (July–August) and continues through the rest of the month.

Visiting

• Timings: open dawn to dusk; no formal opening hours.
• Approach: by foot from the city centre (~2 km); auto-rickshaws drop right at the base.
• Best time: early morning for cool weather; or during the Sravan Jhula Mela for the festival atmosphere.
• Bring water: there are no facilities on the hill itself.
• The site is informal and uncrowded outside the mela; a quiet contrast to the major shrines.

Nearby

Sarayu · Tulsidas Bhawan · Hanuman Garhi · Kanak Bhawan