vismayāviṣṭahṛdayaḥ purīmālokya sarvataḥ| jāmbūnadamayairdvārairvaiḍūryakṛtavedikaiḥ vajrasphaṭikamuktābhirmaṇikuṭṭimabhūṣitaiḥ| taptahāṭakaniryūhai rājatāmalapāṇḍuraiḥ vaiḍhūryakṛtasopānaiḥ sphāṭikāntarapāṃsubhiḥ| cārusaṃjavanopetaiḥ khamivotpatitaiḥ śubhaiḥ krauñcabarhiṇasaṅghuṣṭaiḥ rājahaṃsa niṣevitaiḥ| tūryābharaṇanirghoṣaiḥ sarvataḥ pratināditām vasvaukasārāpratimāṃ tāṃ vīkṣya nagarīṃ tataḥ| khamivotpatituṃ kāmāṃ jaharṣa hanumān kapiḥ
Surveying all over, Hanuman was wonderstruck to see as though it was leaping into the sky. The city had golden shutters, altars encrusted with vaidurya, mansions inlaid with diamonds, crystals, pearls and other gems, crowned with pure gold and silver. The staircases built with silver were studded with vaidurya. The beautiful quadrangles, coverd with grains of crystal were as though leaping into the air. It echoed with sounds of krauncha birds, peacocks and royal swans. Filled with sounds of musical instruments, it resembled the city of Vaswokasara.
— M.N. Dutt (1891)
Hanuman continues his survey, noting the city's layout: the royal palace at its centre, the market avenues, the residential quarters. He reads the city as a strategist reads a battlefield — studying every detail because any one of them might be the key to finding Sita.