According to Kiṣkindhyākāṇḍa (Kishkindhyakanda) of Rāmāyaṇa (Ramayana), Añjanaparvata (Anjanaparvata) and its surrounding area was the habitat of the vānara (vanara) people (the Sanskrit word means ‘monkey’. Surely this place was no ‘monkey kingdom’. It is supposed that this area was ruled by an ethnic group of people who used to wear the totem of and identified themselves with monkey, which imparted to them this particular epithet). Advised by Hanumān (Hanuman), Sugrīva (Sugriva) invited the legion of monkey soldiers hailing from Añjanaparvata to aid Rāmacandra (Ramachandra) in the siege of Laṅkā (Lanka). As a response to that invitation an army of three million monkeys arrived at Kiṣkindhyā (Kishkindhya) from Añjanaparvata.

Brahmapurāṇa (Brahmapurana) recounts that Añjanaparvata was ruled by the monkey king Keśarī (Kesari), the father of Hanumān. He had two wives, Añjanā (Anjana) and Adrikā (Adrika), who actually were two accursed apsarā (apsara). Once the famous sage Agastya, while visiting Añjanaparvata, blessed the two women with the boon of mothering immensely strong and powerful sons. Later on this very Añjanaparvata Hanumān was born to Añjanā, fathered by Pavana, the Wind-god. 

The notion of the actual location of Añjanaparvata, the place of birth of Hanumān, has generated conflicting opinions among scholars of geographical history. As per the account of Uttarakāṇḍa (Uttarakanda) of Rāmāyaṇa, Hanumān was born on a mountain near Sumeruparvata (the Sumeru Mountains). In accordance with this information, many scholars hold the view that this Añjanaparvata, as described in Brahmapurāṇa to be the birthplace of Hanumān, is same as the Añjanaparvata mentioned in the Vedic literatures. But then again, while describing the geographical location of Añjanaparvata, Brahmapurāṇa itself indicates that the mountain was situated beside Mount Brahmagiri — girirbrahmagireḥ parśve añjano nāma nārada.

Now, it is well nigh unanimously believed by scholars that today Brahmagiri is to be identified with one of the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats, situated in the South Indian state of Karnataka. As Brahmapurāṇa clearly mentions the river Godavari or Gautamī Gaṅgā (Gautami Ganga) as well in this context, the notion of the location of Añjanaparvata being in South India becomes stronger. The description of Kiṣkindhyākāṇḍa that Añjanaparvata was the abode of the vānara people indicates even more prominently that this Añjanaparvata could never be the Añjanaparvata referred to in the Vedic literature; because since long it was clear that the non-Aryan ethnic tribes were inhabitants of the region south of the Vindhya mountain range. H.H. Wilson observes that Mount Hanumanmalai of Karnataka (Mysore) appears to be the Añjanaparvata of the Puranic descriptions.  Compared with the information gathered from Rāmāyaṇa, this seems to be a likely assumption.