Editing Agastya (section)

==Legacy==

===Temples===
Temples for Agastya are found in Tamil Nadu. In [[Thirunelveli District]],

* A temple for Agastyar on top of [[Agastya Mala]]
* Agastheeswarar temple in [[Ambasamudram]] 
* Agastheeswarar temple in [[Kallidaikurichi]]
* Sri Agasthiyar Temple at [[Agasthiyar Falls]] (Kalyana Theertham) in [[Papanasam]] 

In [[Madurai District]], 

* Sri Lobamudra Samedha Agasthiyar Temple in the Arulmigu Chidambara Vinayagar Thirukoil at [[Vellalapatti]] (7&nbsp;km from [[Alagarkovil]]). 

Agastya statues or reliefs feature in numerous early medieval temples of north India, south India and Southeast Asia. One famous Agastya temple is also located in Uttarakhand in the town of Agastyamuni. The town derived its name from the name of Sage Agastya. The ''Dasavatara temple'' in [[Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh|Deogarh]] (Uttar Pradesh, near Madhya Pradesh border) features a 6th-century [[Gupta Empire]] era Agastya carving.<ref name="Bemmel1994p35">{{cite book|author=Helena A. van Bemmel|title=Dvarapalas in Indonesia: Temple Guardians and Acculturation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNlt08SXW48C&pg=PA35|year=1994|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-90-5410-155-0|pages=35–37, 41–44, 60}}</ref> In [[Karnataka]] similarly, he is reverentially shown in several 7th-century temples such as the Mallikarjuna temple in Mahakuta and the Parvati temple in Sandur. He is a part of many Chalukya era Shaivism temples in the Indian subcontinent peninsula.<ref name="Bemmel1994p35"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Douglas E. Barrett|title=The dancing Siva in early south Indian art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rw83AQAAIAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0856721328|page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James C. Harle|title=Temple Gateways in South India: The Architecture and Iconography of the Cidambaram Gopuras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZ5NAAAAYAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|isbn=978-81-215-0666-3|page=135}}</ref>

The artistic iconography of South Asian and Southeast Asian temples show common themes such as he holding a pitcher, but also differences. For example, Agastya is featured inside or outside of the temple walls and sometimes as a guardian at the entrance (''dvarapala''), with or without a potbelly, with or without a receding hairline, with or without a dagger and sword.<ref name="Bemmel1994p35"/> Rock cut temples and caves, such as the 8th-century Pandya rock temples group, show Agastya.<ref name="Bemmel1994p35"/>

===Literature===
The shrine to Agastya at the Pothigai hill source of the river is mentioned in both [[Ilango Adigal]]'s ''[[Silappatikaram]]'' and [[Chithalai Chathanar]]'s ''[[Manimekhalai]]'' epics.<ref>Ameresh Datta. Sahitya Akademi, 1987 - Indic literature. Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo. pp 115</ref>

Similarly, the Sanskrit plays ''[[Anargharāghava]]'' and [[Rajashekhara (Sanskrit poet)|Rajasekhara]]'s ''Bālarāmāyaṇa'' of the 9th century refer to a shrine of Agastya on or near [[Adam's Peak]] (Sri Pada), the tallest mountain in Sri Lanka (ancient [[Tamraparni]]), from whence the river Gona Nadi/Kala Oya flows into the Gulf of Mannar's [[Puttalam Lagoon]].<ref name="Mendis 20062">{{cite book|last=Mendis|first=G.C.|title=Early History of Ceylon|publisher=Asian Educational Services|year=2006|isbn=81-206-0209-9|edition=Reprint|page=386|chapter=The ancient period}}<!--|access-date=2009-11-06--></ref>

===Martial arts===
Maharishi Agastya is regarded as the founder of [[Silambam]], an [[Indian martial arts|Indian martial art]] from [[Tamil Nadu]], and ''[[Varma kalai|varmam]],'' an ancient science of healing using varmam points for varied diseases which is also utilized by practitioners of the southern form of [[Kalaripayattu]], an Indian martial art from [[Kerala]].<ref name="Zarilli1998">{{cite book |last=Zarrilli |first=Phillip B. |title=When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Discourses and Practices of Power in Kalarippayattu, a South Indian Martial Art |year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford}}</ref> [[Murugan]], the son of [[Shiva]], is said to have taught ''varmam'' to Agastya, who then wrote treatises on it and passed it on to other [[siddhar]].<ref>Luijendijk, D.H. (2005) ''Kalarippayat: India's Ancient Martial Art'', Paladin Press</ref><ref name="Zarilli 92">Zarrilli 1992</ref>