Using data from 39 well-distributed and long-record stations over the area, we found gamma distribution to be the most suitable probability model from among the Pearsonian models that show good fit to monthly rainfall in the Asian summer monsoon. We show that the monthly rainfall distribution is not Gaussian and the simple square-root, cube-root, and logarithmic transformations are of limited utility for normalizing the rainfall distribution. A Craig type chart indicates that the rainfall distribution is a Type I distribution or a special or limiting case of this distribution; these distributions are fitted to monthly rainfall, and the goodness-of-fit is tested by the chi-square test. The gamma distribution (Pearson's Type III), which is a limiting case of Type I distribution and next, to the Gaussian distribution in simplicity, gives a good fit to monthly rainfall at all the stations in each of the summer monsoon months; the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the variance ratio test confirm this good f... Abstract Using data from 39 well-distributed and long-record stations over the area, we found gamma distribution to be the most suitable probability model from among the Pearsonian models that show good fit to monthly rainfall in the Asian summer monsoon. We show that the monthly rainfall distribution is not Gaussian and the simple square-root, cube-root, and logarithmic transformations are of limited utility for normalizing the rainfall distribution. A Craig type chart indicates that the rainfall distribution is a Type I distribution or a special or limiting case of this distribution; these distributions are fitted to monthly rainfall, and the goodness-of-fit is tested by the chi-square test. The gamma distribution (Pearson's Type III), which is a limiting case of Type I distribution and next, to the Gaussian distribution in simplicity, gives a good fit to monthly rainfall at all the stations in each of the summer monsoon months; the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the variance ratio test confirm this good f...