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Agastya ( Sanskrit: अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent.
Agastya was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He and his wife Lopamudra are the celebrated authors of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 in the Sanskrit text Rigveda and other Vedic literature.
He is the author of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 of the Rigveda (~1200 BCE). Agasthiyar is said to have composed the Aditya Hridayam, a hymn on Sun God (Surya), and taught the same to Rama just before the war between Rama and Ravana.
He is also believed to be the author of Agastya Samhita.The word is also written as Agasti and Agathiyar. A-ga means a mountain, and Asti means thrower.Agastya is also the Indian astronomical name of the star of Canopus, is said to be the 'cleanser of waters', since its rising coincides with the calming of the waters of the Indian Ocean
Agastya had a hermitage (ashram), but the ancient and medieval era Indian texts provide inconsistent stories and location for this ashram. Two legends place it in Northwest Maharashtra, on the banks of the river Godavari, near Nashik in small towns named Agastyapuri and Akole. Other putative sites mentioned in Northern and Eastern Indian sources is near Sangli in Ainwadi (Agastinagar) (Tal-khanapur) village (Western ghats at Maharashtra), or near Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh), or in Agastyamuni village near Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand), or Satpura Range (Madhya Pradesh).
In Southern sources and the North Indian Devi-Bhagavata Purana, his ashram is based in Tamil Nadu, variously placed in Tirunelveli, Pothiyal hills, or Thanjavur.[27] Facing east, he penanced upon a rock at Kanyakumari immediately after the beginning of Kali Yuga. It is also considered that his final resting place is in Agastyarkoodam in Thiruvananthapuram. Temples for Agastya are found in Tamil Nadu. They include the Sri Agasthiyar Temple at Agasthiyar Falls (Kalyana Theertham) in Papanasam (Thirunelveli District) and the Sri Lobamudra Samedha Agasthiyar Temple in the Arulmigu Chidambara Vinayagar Thirukoil at A. Vellalapatti (Madurai District) (7 km from Alagarkovil).
Sage Agastya is one among the Seven Sages. He is considered the foremost among the 18 Siddhars. He is a part of the lineage of Adi Shiva. He imparted various forms of yoga to his disciples. His disciples continued the lineage of yoga, preserving it. However, over time, most of these teachings were lost, and only a few remain today. Among these, astrology and medicine are prominent. The Sri Maamagarishi Agasthiyar Charitable Trust is actively working to revive and propagate the meditation methods, Siddha practices, profound teachings, devotion, surrender, and spiritual grace of Sage Sri Maamagarishi Agastya in the Guru Parampara tradition.
