Back to Agastya. Don't know why I didn't think to nose through the Valmeeki Ramayanam first.
But the Ramayanam already knows of Agastya having made his mountainous abode in the southern region near the river Tamraparni:
web.archive.org/web/20140303215242/http://www.valmikiramayan.net/kishkindha/sarga41/kishkindha_41_frame.htm
(Internet Archive link from earlier in the year: archive crawled the site in October and the page was down then and is still down now)
But the Ramayanam already knows of Agastya having made his mountainous abode in the southern region near the river Tamraparni:
web.archive.org/web/20140303215242/http://www.valmikiramayan.net/kishkindha/sarga41/kishkindha_41_frame.htm
(Internet Archive link from earlier in the year: archive crawled the site in October and the page was down then and is still down now)
Quote:tathaa vangaan kalingaam ca kaushikaan ca sama.ntataH |
anviikSya daNDaka araNyam sa parvata nadii guham || 4-41-11
nadiim godaavariim caiva sarvam eva anupashyata |
tathaiva aandhraan ca puNDraan ca colaan paaNDyaan keralaan || 4-41-12
11, 12. tathaa= like that; vangaan kalingaam ca=, Vanga, Kalinga [kingdoms,] also; sam antataH= verily, at its fringes; available; kaushikaan ca= Kaushika [territories,] also; you search and then; sa parvata nadii guham daNDaka araNyam = with, mountains, rivers, Dandaka, forest, caves; anviikSya= on seeing - on searching Dandaka; godaavariim nadiim caiva= Godavari, river, also, thus; tathaiva= like that; aandhraan ca= Andhra territory; puNDraan ca colaan paaNDyaan keralaan= Pundra, Chola, Paandya, Kerala [provinces]; sarvam eva= all of them; anu pashyata= closely, see - make a through search.
"Like that Vanga, Kalinga territories shall be searched along with Kaushika territories available on their fringes, then cast about the Dandaka forest all over its mountains, rivers, and its caves, then River Godavari that courses through Dandaka forest, and then the provinces of Andhra, Pundra, Chola, Paandya, Kerala are to be searched thoroughly. [4-41-11, 12]
Some other mms have Matsya desha in this verse instead of the Vanga desha. The Vanga is the present day Bengal and this territory retained its epical name, but while pronouncing it becomes banga because the Sanskrit grammar allows to pronounce or write va as ba by the rule va ba yoH abhedaH and thus it is called Baangla or Bengal as British used to call. Kaushika in some other mms is read as kaashika. Kalinga is Orissa which touches Bengal at its north, and it is the Kie-ling-kia as said by Huet Tsang.
The Andhra is the present day Andhra Pradesh and Chola is the present Tamil Nadu, especially northern area, and Pundra is roughly in between Andhra and Chola. Paandya is south-most area where in Kanyakumari district the Cape Camorin is there, and Kerala is the present Kerala state from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. Its historical name was chera raajya and in Ashoka's time, it was called kerala putra.
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ayomukhaH ca ga.ntavyaH parvato dhaatu maNDitaH |
vicitra shikharaH shriimaan citra puSpita kaananaH || 4-41-13
suca.ndana vanoddesho maargitavyo mahaagiriH |
13, 14a. dhaatu maNDitaH= with ores, crowded with; vi citra shikharaH= verily, amazing, with crests; shriimaan= prosperous [mountain]; citra puSpita kaananaH = motley, flowered, with forests; such a; ayaH mukhaH parvataH= iron, mouths, mountain - a mountain having iron-ore mines in the shape of mouths, namely Mt. Malaya]; gantavyaH= reachable - you shall go to; su candana vanaat deshaH= best, sandalwood trees, with copses, places; mahaa giriH maargitavyaH = great mountain, is to be searched.
"You shall go to the prosperous Mt. Malaya which is crowded with iron-ore mines as its vast mouths, and with amazing crests and motley flowered forests. Search shall be carried out on that great mountain in the places that are with the copses of sandalwood trees. [4-41-13, 14a]
This Mountain is also called Agastyamalai and it is in Western Ghats from which River Tamraparni emerges.
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tataH taam aapagaam divyaam prasanna salilaashayaan || 4-41-14
tatra drakSyatha kaaveriim vihR^itaam apsaro gaNaiH |
14b, 15a. tataH= from there; divyaam= divine one; prasanna salila ashayaan= limpid, waters, receptacle of; apsaraH gaNaiH vihR^itaam = by apsara, throngs, make pleasure-trips; taam kaaveriim= her, Kaveri; aapa gaam= water, flowing [river]; tatra drakSyatha = there, you shall see.
"From there you shall go and see the divine River Kaaveri there, a receptacle of limpid waters, to where throngs of apsara-s will be making pleasure-trips. [4-41-14b, 15a]
The River Kaaveri is the best river in southern peninsula of India that flows from Braham Giri Mountains in Coorg of Western India to the East draining in Bay of Bengal and irrigating a major chunk of land. Many legends are associated with this river, of which one is that when Sage Agastya was bringing waters of River Ganga, they sprinkled from his kamandulau, the handy water-vessel, and flooded like Kaaveri. The original Tamil name is kakaviri where kaakam is 'crow...' viri 'spread out...' When Agastya is bringing water it sprinkled from his handy vessel and flooded the kaa 'the garden...' in Tamil, the garden of Indra. Then it is called kaaviri, but Shilpadikkaaram records its name as Kaaveri only pulavoy vazhi kaaveri... nadanthai vazhi kaaveri...
(Kaaveri too is closely associated with Agastya. IIRC it is an embodiment of an incarnation of his beloved wife Lopamudra.)
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tasya aasiinam nagasya agre malayasya mahojasam || 4-41-15
drakSyatha aaditya sa.nkaasham agastyam R^iSi sattamam |
15b, 16a. mahaa ojasam= highly resplendent [mountain]; tasya malayasya nagasya agre = of that, Mt. Malaya, mountain, on the top of it; aasiinam= who is sitting; aaditya sankaasham= Sun, in similarity; R^iSi sattamam agastyam drakSyatha= Sage, the eminent, Agastya, you shall see.
"You shall see the eminent sage Agastya, whose resplendence is akin to that of the Sun, and who will be sitting on the top of that highly resplendent Mt. Malaya. [4-41-15b, 16a]
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tataH tena abhyanuj~naataaH prasannena mahaatmanaa || 4-41-16
taamraparNiim graaha juSTaam tariSyatha mahaanadiim |
16b, 17a. tataH= from there; prasannena mahaa aatmanaa= when he becomes complaisant, great-soul [Agastya]; tena= by him; abhi anuj~naataaH= well permitted; graaha juSTaam taamraparNiim = capturers [crocodiles,] highly cherished by, River Taamraparni; such a; mahaa nadiim= great river; tariSyatha= you shall cross over.
"And when that great-souled Agastya complaisantly permits you, then you shall leave that mountain and cross over the great [b]River Taamraparni, a highly cherished river of crocodiles. [4-41-16b, 17a][/b]
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saa candana vanaiH citraiH pracChannaa dviipa vaariNii || 4-41-17
kaantaa iva yuvatii kaantam samudram avagaahate |
17b, 18a. citraiH candana vanaiH = with amazing, sandalwood trees, copses; pracChannaa dviipa vaariNii= with overlapped, islands, water; saa= she [the river]; yuvatii= a young woman [Taamraparni]; kaantaa = one who is yearning for; kaantam iva= for whom she is yearning - her love, as with; samudram= to ocean; avagaahate = [she will be] rendezvousing.
"She whose water is overlapped with amazing copses of sandalwood trees and islands that River Taamrapani will be drifting for a rendezvous with her much yearned lover, namely the ocean, as with a young woman who will be coursing to have a rendezvous with her yearned lover. [4-41-17b, 18a]
The romantic touch is that the River Taamraparni has sandalwood trees alongshore and by constant rubbing of her waters, those trees that yield sandalwood paste to her. And her island-like breasts are smeared with that sandal paste supplied by the trees alongshore, while she is nearing her husband, namely the ocean.
The name of the river Taamraparni or Tamiravarani or Taamravarni derives from the words taamra 'coppery...' varNa 'colour...' 'a river with coppery riverbanks...' where those riverbanks have light coppery sandalwood trees. And she flows from Agastyamalai in Western Ghats of India, and courses through Papanaasham, a holy place. And covering Tirunalveli it drains into Bay of Bengal at the Gulf of Mannaar. There are hosts of vainavatiruppadigal 'Vaishnavaite temples...' throughout its riverbanks and this river is held holy. There are many legends about it, of which one says that Sage Agastya led the course of this river to the ocean for twenty-seven days from its source.
Down south of the River Taamraparni it is simhala desha or senga-kia-lo the present day Sri Lanka. 'This was first made known to the European world by the expedition of Alexander, as Taprobane. The true form however would appear to be Ta'mba panni or the 'red-leaved one...' from the Sanskrit T'amparni and Ptolemy calls it Salike, corrupt from Simhalaka Abu Rihaan gives the form of Singal-dip and then the Arabic name Tilaan came and that resulted into Cylone. After a long lost time they have renamed it as per the nomenclature given in Ramayana as Lanka, but adding a Sri before it. [After Ancient Geography of India.]
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tato hemamayam divyam muktaa maNi vibhuuSitam || 4-41-18
yuktam kavaaTam paaNDyaanaam gataa drakSyatha vaanaraaH |
18b, 19a. vaanaraaH= oh, vanara-s; tataH= from there; yuktam= joined to - braced to the wall of fortress; hemamayam divyam= full with gold, beautiful one; muktaa maNi vibhuuSitam= pearls, gemstones, decorated with; paaNDyaanaam kavaaTam= of Paandya [kingdom's,] castle-door; gataaH= having gone there; drakSyatha= you shall see; search inside that gateway.
"From there, on going to the Paandya Kingdome you shall see a fully golden castle-door bracing the compound-wall of the fortress, which is decorated with pearls and jewels, and conduct your search even in that kingdom. [4-41-18b, 19a]
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tataH samudram aasaadya sa.mpradhaarya artha nishcayam || 4-41-19
agastyena antare tatra saagare viniveshitaH |
citra saanu nagaH shriimaan mahendraH parvatottamaH || 4-41-20
jaata ruupamayaH shriimaan avagaaDho mahaarNavam |
19b, 20, 21a. tataH samudram aasaadya= then, [southern] ocean, on reaching; artha nishcayam sampradhaarya = purpose's, resolve, on resolving; agastyena= by Agastya; tatra= there; saagare antare vi niveshitaH= in ocean, inside, verily, penned up [one end of mountain]; citra saanu nagaH= one with marvellous, terraces, trees; shriimaan mahendraH = glorious, Mt. Mahendra; parvata uttamaH= among mountains, best one; jaataruupamayaH= completely golden; shriimaan mahaa arNavam= august [Mt. Mahendra,] into great, ocean; avagaaDhaH= will be steeping in.
"Then on reaching the southern ocean, and on taking a resolve with regard to the purpose of your task, viz., importance of the mission undertaken vis-ÃÂ -vis your individual capacities to leap the ocean, you reach the glorious Mt. Mahendra. Sage Agastya once penned its one end in the ocean, and the other end is now visible. That august and best one among all mountains will be completely golden with marvellous terraces and trees, and it will be steeping into ocean on the other side of land, and this mountain becomes the jumping-off point for you vanara-s. [4-41-19b, 20, 21a]
There are three mountains in Kanyakumari district, the southern promontories of India, at the end of Western Ghats, namely Thadaka malai, Mahendra giri, Marunthuva malai, where the word malai, giri is 'mountain...' in Tamil. The Thadakamalai is held as the forest of Tataka, the demoness, and Rama is believed to have come up to this south most part of India to eliminate Tataka in his boyhood. The Mahendragiri is the mountain from which Hanuma leaps to Lanka and the river that emerges from this mountain is named after Hanuma. The Marunthuvamalai is believed to be a mound fallen from the main Himalayan mountain which Hanuma brought while bringing sanjiivini herb, to bring Lakshmana to conscious. Even now, the local people benefit from the herbs that grow on this mountain and even the bitter leaves when cooked on this mountain will turn to sweet taste. This is being the story of this end of the ocean for Herbal Mountain, on the other end in Sri Lanka also there is a similar herbal mountain called Rhumassala Kanda, in Singhalese.
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naanaa vidhaiH nagaiH phullaiH lataabhiH ca upashobhitam || 4-41-21
deva R^iSi yakSa pravaraiH apsarobhiH ca sevitam |
siddha caaraNa sa.nghaiH ca prakiirNam sumanoharam || 4-41-22
tam upaiti sahasraakSaH sadaa parvasu parvasu |
21b, 22, 23a. naanaa vidhaiH= numerous, sorts of; phullaiH nagaiH= with flowered, trees; lataabhiH ca upashobhitam= with climbers, also, glorified; deva R^iSi yakSa pravaraiH= by gods, sages, yaksha-s, important ones; apsarobhiH ca= by apsara-s, even; sevitam= adored; siddha caaraNa sanghaiH ca = by siddha-s, caarana, groups of, also; pra kiirNam= well, overspread; su manaH haram= truly, heart-stealing [for a look]; tam= it - to that mountain; sahasraakSaH= Thousand-eyed Indra; parvasu parvasu= on auspicious day, on auspicious day - on every auspicious day; sadaa = always - regularly; upaiti= he comes.
"Mt. Mahendra is glorified with numerous kinds of flowered trees and climbers. Important gods, sages, yaksha-s and even apsara-s will adore it, and it is overspread with the groups of siddha-s and caarana-s, and thus it will be heart-stealing for a look. And the Thousand-eyed Indra will always be visiting that Mt. Mahendra on every auspicious day. [4-41-21b, 22, 23a]
(The Vedic=Hindoo Gods inhabit the various regions of the Hindoo homeland since ur-times.)
The auspicious day for Tamil almanac is no moon day amavaashya because of its neutrality from the wax and wane affects of lunar phases. So, it is believed that Indra will come to this mountain on every no-moon-day in the Indian month.