Agastya

According to Hindu mythology, Agastya was the name of a famous sage (rishi). The Hindu tradition states that he brought the Vedic culture to the southern part of India. He also helped in development of Tamil language. According to traditional belief, he still lives in a mountain names Agasyta Malai in Tamil Nadu, India. Scholars believe that Agastya wrote many hymns of Rigveda. He also find mention many times in the Vedic mythology.

There are many stories about Agastya. In the famous epic, the Ramayana, Rama (an avatar of god Vishnu) meets Agastya. Agastya gives Rama many advices and his support. There are two older stories about Agastya. One story tells that he forced the Vindhya mountains to bow down. The Vindhya Mountain is in middle of India, and divided the North India and the South India. In the second story, he drank all the waters of the ocean. This happened before the Churning of the Ocean.

References

Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola

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