What is Agastya?
[[File:WLA lacma 12th century Maharishi Agastya.jpg|thumb|180px|Agastya]] According to [[Hindu mythology]], '''Agastya''' was the name of a famous sage ([[rishi]]). The [[Hinduism|Hindu]] tradition states that he brought the [[Vedas|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 {{commonscat|Agastya}} {{Religion-stub}} [[Category:Tamil culture]]