Riskha, king of Kishkindha, had asked his sons, Vali and Sugriva, to share the kingdom after him. Vali and his wife, Tara, lived happily with Sugriva and his wife, Ruma, for many years. Then one day a Rakshasa called Mayavi challenged Vali, who was renowned all over the world for his strength, to a duel. Vali overpowered Mayavi easily but then the demon gave Vali the slip and ran into a cave. ‘I will follow him inside and kill him,’ said Vali to Sugriva, ‘But you stay here and guard the entrance of this cave and do not let him leave under any circumstances. If blood gushes out, remember it is I who have been killed but if milk gushes out remember it is not I but Mayavi who has been killed for milk not blood runs through Mayavi’s veins.’ Sugriva waited for a full year outside the cave but neither his brother nor the demon emerged from it. Inside the cave it was all dark and all he could hear were the sounds of fighting, the shouts of a demon and snarls of a monkey. At the end of the year there was silence. Blood started gushing out of the cave. Sugriva immediately assumed that Vali had been killed not realizing that before dying, Mayavi had cast a magic spell that made his blood appear red, not white. Sugriva called out to his brother but heard nothing. Sugriva was sure that Mayavi had killed his brother. Not wanting his brother’s murderer to escape he rolled a huge boulder and blocked the entrance to the cave. Unfortunately, after the duel, Vali was too exhausted to shout and tell his brother of his victory. When he found the entrance of the cave blocked by a huge boulder, he suspected that Sugriva had done so with the intention of killing him. He kicked the boulder aside and returned to Kishkindha where his suspicions turned to certainty when he found that his brother had already assumed kingship of Kishkindha. ‘Traitor,’ shouted Vali and rushed towards his brother determined to kill him. Sugriva immediately realized there had been a misunderstanding. He tried to explain but Vali was in no mood to listen. Vali convinced himself that Sugriva always had his eye on being the sole ruler of Kishkindha and had plotted to kill him. He chased Sugriva all through the forest, intent on killing him. And he would surely have succeeded had Sugriva not taken refuge on the hill called Rishyamukha. This was one place in Kishkindha that Vali feared to enter. For it was home to Matanga, a sage who had cursed Vali that if he ever stepped on the hill he would die instantly.