Who was Agastya or Agasthya Muni

In Hindu Religion Agastya is considered as the first and foremost person of “Siddha” (Siddhas are saints in India). He is considered as the guru of many other siddhas. He is also called Kurumuni (‘Kuru’ means short, ‘Muni’ means saint) His contributions were to the field of Medicine (Siddha is also a form of medical treatment of curing diseases using herbs.

According to legend, Tamil, an Indian language was a gift from the sage Agastya to mankind, and he was also the first grammarian in Tamil language. Malayalam,the language of Kerala, is believed to have evolved from Tamil much later.

Agastya is said to have lived for over 5000 years, and that one of his medicinal preparations. Agasstya was a great devotee of Lord ‘Siva’. Lord ‘Siva’ himself taught the classical Tamil language to Agastya.

Legends about Agastya

One story about Agastya goes that once the demons had taken refuge in the ocean and it was difficult for the gods to vanquish them, so they went to sage Agastya for help. Then after hearing the Gods, Agastya drank the entire ocean water and withheld it within him until the demons were destroyed.
According to legend, Mithra (Sun) and Varuna (the God of rain) happened to fall in love with the celestial nymph Urvasi. On seeing the pretty dancer, their semen leaked out of them and this was preserved in a pitcher. Out of the pitcher was born two great sages - Agasthya and Vasishta. Agasthya was also called Kumbha Sambhava or Kumbha muni. A folk lore in the Sidha Medicine has a different story to tell. It Says that Sage Agasthiyar was born about 4573 years prior to the commencement of Kali Yuga at a place in Gujarat. His father Bhargava (Savithru - one of the 14 Adithyas) was well learned while his mother Indumathi was from Punjab on the banks of the Indus River. They were both devotees of the Pasupatha order of the sage Rishabha Muni. Agastya is said to have lived for over 5000 years, and that one of his medicinal preparations. Agasstya was a great devotee of Lord ‘Siva’.

Agasthyamuni and Vindhya mountain
Maha meru mountain in India, which literally touches the sky. According to legend it grows day by day and stands the highest. The Vindhya ranges which are in the middle of India got very jealous of this state of affairs and started growing taller and taller. As a result of this Sun and the moon were not able to travel to the south. The Sun and moon’s movements became irregular and the vedic rituals which tied to their movements also became irregular. It was at this time that Lord Shiva decided to marry Goddess Parvathi. People all over the world started traveling to Himalayas to attend Lord Shiva’s marriage. Then Lord Shiva requested Agastya Muni to travel towards the south.
Agastya Muni came towards Vindhyaachal Parvat along with his wife and seeing his height said to him - "O king of Parvat Vindhyaachal, We are going towards south, we cannot climb such a height, kindly lower yourself so that we old people can go to the other side." Vindhyaachal was a great worshipper of saints and Rishi, so he immediately lowered his height up to the ground level so that the old couple did not need to climb at all, they just walked.
Agastya Muni told him to be in the same position because he would soon be returning to north side. Vindhyaachal readily agreed for this. He is lying like that even today, because Agastya Muni never returned to north. Since then everything got in order.
So Aga+stya means subdued mountain. He played an important role in the uplifting of southern region and Dravidian cultures.
Agasthya gives ‘Bows and Arrows’ to Lord Rama
Lord Rama fought with Ravana for a long time in Sri Lanka. At that stage Agasthya muni gave Bows, arrows and swords to Rama and Lakshmana.
Tale of Agasthya and Indra Dhyumna
There was a very great king called Indra Dhyumna in the Pandya dynasty. This king was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Once when Agasthya came to visit him, the king was so drowned in his devotion to Lord Vishnu, that he did not see or show hospitality to Sage Agasthya. Sage Agasthya cursed to him to become an elephant for 1000 years. This elephant was called Gajendra. At this time another sage called Devala cursed a Gandarwa called Huhu to become a crocodile because he disturbed his penance. Once the Elephant got in to the river in which the crocodile was living. The crocodile caught hold of the feet of the elephant. After a very long time , the elephant called Lord Narayana, who came and killed the crocodile. He also removed the curse on Indra Dhyumna and gave him salvation.

Story of Sage Agasthya’s marriage
According to legend, One day Sage Agasthya was traveling through the forest and his Pithru devathas (Manes) were found hanging upside down on forest trees. When he asked them, why this fate came to them, they replied, that since Agasthya did not have a son, they were forced to undergo this type of suffering. Agasthya promised them that he would get married. He collected all that is good from every being on earth and created a baby girl. At that time the king of Vidharbha was doing great penance to get a child .Agasthya presented the king with the baby he had created. She was named as Lopa Mudhra and brought up under great luxurious circumstances.

When she reached marriageable age, Agasthya requested her hand in marriage from the king of Vidharbha. Though the king was terribly afraid of the sage, he indicated to him, that he is not willing to give his daughter in marriage to him. But Lopa Mudhra, told her father that she wanted to marry Agasthya. Since he used to walk on forests and mountains, wanting not to trouble his wife, Agasthya used to give her a micro form and carry her in his pitcher.

Due to the wish of Lord Shiva, Agasthya traveled south and settled down there. Due to the very odorous journey that he had to undertake, Lord Shiva gave a boon to Agasthya that his pitcher would be full of water always. At that time, the South India was extremely dry with small streams which were seasonal. Once when Agasthya had gone to take bath and Lord Ganesa took the form of a crow and overturned Agasthya’s pitcher. Lopa Mudhra along with the perennial water from the pitcher turned in to the mighty river Kaveri, which is perennial.

Lopamudra and Agasthyamuni
As with all other Hindus, it was necessary for Agastya to marry and sire a son, in order to fulfill his duties to the Manus. Once he resolved upon doing this, Agastya pursued an unusual course of action: by his yogic powers, he created a female infant who possessed all the special qualities of character and personality that would be appropriate in the wife of a renunciate. At this time, the noble and virtuous king of Vidarbha (an area in south-central India, just south of the Vindhya mountains), was childless and was undergoing penances and prayers for the gift of a child.
Agastya arranged for the child he had created to be born the daughter of that noble king of Vidarbha. The child was named "Lopamudra" by her parents. Upon her coming of age, Agastya approached the king and sought the hand of his daughter. The king was initially chagrined to hear such a suggestion from a renunciate, but found that his daughter, who had early exhibited extraordinary standards of mind and character, was insistent that he should accept the proposal. She was utterly intent upon exchanging the palace of her father the king for the forest-hermitage of Agastya. Lopamudra and Agastya were duly married and lived a life of extraordinary felicity. It is believed that they had two sons - Bringi & Achuthan.