The Pothigai hills are mentioned as Potiyil, Potiyal, Pothikai and Potalaka in historical sources largely in relation to the river Tamraparni and the ancient Sage Agastya (Akattiyan).
The Egyptian Greek cartographer Ptolemy names the mountain "Bettigo", from where three rivers rise, including Solen (Tamraparni River), meaning chank - the river was famous for its pearl fishing.
At the mountains, Tamil was created by Agastya, according to Kamban and Villiputturar, while Kancipuranam and Tiruvilaiyatarpuranam assert Lord Shiva taught Agastya Tamil just as he had taught Panini Sanskrit. Tamil Hindu tradition holds that Lord Shiva and Lord Murugan taught Agastya the Tamil language, who then constructed a Tamil grammar, at Pothigai mountains. According to the Tambraparni Mahatmyam, an ancient account of the river from its rise to its mouth, a string of red lotus flowers from sage Agastya at Agastya Malai, Pothigai hills, transformed itself into a damsel at the sight of Lord Siva, forming the river at the source and giving it its divine name, Tamraparni. The shrine to Agastiyar at the Pothigai hill source of the Tamraparni river is mentioned in both Ilango Adigal's Silappatikaram and Chithalai Chathanar's Manimekhalai epics, in relation to blessings sought by Sugriva and his army from the Ramayana.
Peraciriyar states that Agastiyar taught this grammar to Tolkappiyar, one of his twelve disciples, at Pothigai hills, who then wrote Tolkāppiyam, although mentions that some scholars believe Tolkappiyar based the Tamil grammar on other forms no longer extant; Agastiyar is not mentioned in Tolkāppiyam. Paripāṭal of the Eṭṭuttokai anthology speaks of "vaynta Potiyin munivan", the famous sage of Poti". In Naccinarkiniyar's commentaries, quoting lines of Nakkeerar, Agastiyar is associated with the Pothigai mountains and pure Tamil. In Sundarar's Tevaram, the Pothigai mountains are mentioned.
Following the establishment of Siddhar Gnana Koodam, and traveling the world to spread his knowledge, Agastya returned to Agastya Mala, the point on the Pothigai hills where he merged into the cosmos. A temple dedicated to him is built here, close to the Papanasam Falls, on the banks of the Thamirabarani River. Pilgrims believe Sage Agastya gives appearances to sincere aspirants and devotees.
Tamil Buddhist tradition developed in Chola literature, such as in Buddamitra's Virasoliyam , states Agastya learnt Tamil from the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara; the earlier Chinese traveler Xuanzang recorded the existence of a temple dedicated to Avalokitesvara in the South Indian hill Potala. A Buddhist text, Tarasukkam, refers to Avalokitesvara as "Potalagirinivasini". The author of the Silappatikaram, utilizing the word "Potiyil" for the hills, hails the southern breeze that emanates from the hills that blows over the kingdom of the Pandyans of Madurai and Korkai that own it. Chithalai Chathanar's Manimekhalai describes a river flowing on the slope of Potiyil mountain where the Buddhist monks observed meditation. The author utilized the word "Potiyil" for Buddhist pallis. In fellow Sangam work Kuṟuntokai of the Eṭṭuttokai anthology, a Buddhist vihara under a Banyan tree is described at the top of the mountain. A comment that God had disappeared from the mountain was found in Ahananuru, from whose inaccessible top the stream of clear waters flows down with noise in torrents, and the fact that old men assembled and played dice in the dilapidated temple is described in Purananuru.
The Japanese scholar Shu Hikosaka on the basis of his study of Buddhist scriptures, ancient Tamil literature, as well as field survey, proposes the hypothesis that, the ancient mount Potalaka, the residence of Avalokiteśvara described in the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra and Xuanzang’s Records, is the real mountain Pothigai (or Potiyil) situated at Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. Shu also says that mount Potiyil/Potalaka has been a sacred place for the people of South India from time immemorial. With the spread of Buddhism in the region beginning at the time of the great king Aśoka in the third century B.C.E., it became a holy place also for Buddhists who gradually became dominant as a number of their hermits settled there. The local people, though, mainly remained followers of the Hindu religion. The mixed Hindu-Buddhist cult culminated in the formation of the figure of Avalokiteśvara.
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