Mountain of the Mahabharata

Malaya

मलय

Sandal hills of the Pandya king

Malaya (Southern Western Ghats around the Agastyamalai range, Tamil Nadu and Kerala): Sandal hills of the Pandya king, located at coordinates 9.60°N, 77.30°E.

Key Facts

Key facts about Malaya
TypeMountain
Sanskrit nameमलय
Coordinates9.60°N, 77.30°E
Modern locationSouthern Western Ghats around the Agastyamalai range, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
SignificanceSandal hills of the Pandya king

About Malaya

The sandal-bearing hills of the Pandya country in the far south, counted among the great ranges of Bharata and named in the tirtha lists as a place where pilgrims ended their lives on the pyre. The Pandya king who carried the Malaya peak as the device on his banner thought himself the equal of Bhishma, Drona, Karna and Arjuna together, and on the seventeenth day he turned Karna's divisions round like a potter's wheel and struck the diadem off Ashvatthama's head before he was cut down.

Why it matters: Sandal hills of the Pandya king

Details

Sandal
Famed source of the sandal paste and fragrant woods named throughout the epic

On the Map

Malaya

Malaya sits at 9.60°N, 77.30°E, in Southern Western Ghats around the Agastyamalai range, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

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Stories Set at Malaya

Characters Connected

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