Vedic Kathas
Searching for Sita, Rama met the exiled vanara king Sugriva through Hanuman at Rishyamukha.
After Ravana carried Sita away to Lanka, Rama wandered the southern forests in grief, searching for any trace of her.
Sugriva, hiding on Rishyamukha from his brother Vali who had seized his kingdom, saw two armed and princely figures approaching and feared they were Vali's men.
The two who met were alike in sorrow. Rama had lost his wife to a demon; Sugriva had lost his wife and his throne to his own brother Vali, who had driven him into exile.
Sugriva then brought out a bundle of ornaments that had fallen from the sky, dropped by a weeping woman being carried south in a flying chariot. When Rama saw them his heart broke, for they were Sita's;
To free Sugriva, Rama helped him challenge Vali to single combat, and ended the fight with a single arrow, as told in the slaying of Vali.
After the rains had passed, Sugriva summoned the vanara hosts from every direction and sent them to search the earth for Sita.
The story is the Ramayana's great portrait of true friendship: two beings brought low by loss who lift each other up, each keeping his word at great cost.
Vedic Kathas
The complete story, its characters and sources, on Vedic Kathas.