The ruins spread over an area of more than 26 sq. kms protected by split forks of the tempestuous river Thungabhadra on the North and South, and by the impenetrable Forest of Dreams on the East and West. A terrain such as this was excellent for a capital city that needed to be vigilant. It may not have been military shrewdness alone that, in the 4th century, made the god-conscious Vijayanagar kings settle for this fierce landscape and build on it one of the great imperial cities of early historic times. It was believed to have been, many centuries earlier, the site of the monkey kingdom of Kishkindha associated with the legendary epic, the Ramayana. The Kishkindha monkey culture, according to legend, possessed a sophisticated social order that predated the arrival of humans in this World. Mysterious petroglyphs can be found within the ruins that testify to an advanced culture with a budding cognizance of philosophy, art and science. The presence of a large number of monkeys, and their benevolent association with the Lord and Lady seems to testify to that. Within written history, the ruins, once the abode of Lord Virupaksha and his consort Pampadevi, have a hoary past. Traditions and local legends speak of the penance of Shinara on the Hemakuta hill and his subsequent marriage with Parvathi. The ancient Kishkindha of the Ramayana was situated around these ruins. This is the site of the fight between Vali and Sugriva, killing of Vali by Lord Rama, and the subsequent stay of Rama in Malyavantha Hill when Hanuman went in search of Sita to Lanka. Thus, many of the sites: Matunga, Malyavantha, Rishyamukha, Anjanadri Hills and Pampa Sarovar and Sita Serugu are all associated with RAMAYANA. The site is naturally endowed with great strategic importance. The wide, torrential Tungabhadra on one hand and the rugged hillocks on the other make it a natural fortress. These factors no doubt induced the Vijayanagara rulers to choose this site. What was once only a pilgrim center for lingering believers of the Kishkinda legends became the seat of a mighty empire.