Agathiyar is a 1972 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film written, directed, and produced by A. P. Nagarajan. The soundtrack was composed by

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist and music composer. Early life Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. He was the brother ...

. The film stars

Sirkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in present day Ma ...

playing the main character, T. R. Mahalingam, A. V. M. Rajan,

Kumari Padmini Kumari Padmini (Tamil: குமாரி பத்மினி), born as Padmini (died 1980), was an actress who was active in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam industry during the 1960s and 70s. Bio Kumari Padmini acted mainly in Tamil films. She ...

R. S. Manohar Rasipuram Subramaniyan Iyer Manohar was an Indian actor who performed roles ranging from hero to villain to comedic characters. He was born at Namakkal in 1925. He acted in over 200 films. He is known for his versatility and dominating personal ...

Suruli Rajan Suruli Rajan was a Tamil film comedian/character artiste. He was a recipient of Tamil Nadu State Government's Best Comedian Award for the year 1981–82. Biography Suruli Rajan was born in 1938 in Periyakulam, near Theni. His father ''Ponna ...

, Manorama and Sridevi were in supporting roles. This film ran for 100 days and won widespread appreciation. The film was dubbed into

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

under the title ''Maharish'' in 1986.

Plot

The story is about Agathiyar Muni, who is considered to be the embodiment of one of celestial intellectuals who descended on earth to enlighten human beings. During the wedding of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

and

Goddess Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

, the earth tilted to the northern side, as the whole world was witnessing the marriage. Shiva gave the responsibility of balancing the earth to Agathiyar by going to the southern side. Agathiyar is also given the additional responsibility of spreading goodness and equality. He has the additional task of spreading the

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of P ...

. Many small stories between heaven and earth are interwoven in the movie. The stories teach one to lead a simple existence without ego. It also shows how Agathiyar in this journey destroyed the ego of River Kaveri, Vindhya Mount and

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

, thereby teaching them the greatness of humility. Agathiyar travels southwards, while there, River Ponni talks to Agathiyar egotistically and argues with him. Finally, Agathiyar loses his temper and traps river Ponni in his Kamandalam, and sat down to meditate. Lord Vinayagar (Lord Ganesha) in the form of a crow, pushes Agathiyar Kamandalam down, thus rescuing and leading the river into its formation. Then Agathiyar named the River Ponni as River Kaveri (

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

) (In Tamil (Kakam), pushed Kamandalam and the water flows to broadly (In Tamil Virinthu Odiyathal) named as Ka + viri= Kaviri (became Kaveri in later usage). One time Mount Vidhayan was continually growing in size due to taunting comments by Sage Narathar (

Narada Narada ( sa, नारद, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He ...

). So as to temper the vanity of the mountains, Sage Agathiyar travelled to the southern side via mount Vindhyan. On their way when Vindhyan saw Agathiyar, he bowed with respect and reverence, upon which sage Agathiyar jokingly asked if he would stay bowed and subdued with respect till the sage returned. Mount Vindhyan was truly benevolent and promised to not grow until the sage returns from the south. However, after passing through the mount, the sage will not require again to cross over to the northern side of Mount Vindhyan. Narathar was speaking proudly to others. He is most reverent to

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

(Lord Narayana) because he always thinks and chants about only

. Agathiyar tells Narathar to watch one day for a potter. Narathar also does that and tells Agathiyar that the potter man chants about "Narayana" twice daily. Then, Agathiyar kept Narathar a small bowl full of oil in Narathar's hands. Agathiyar gives a rule asking Narathar to not spill one drop of oil while going around the world, and Narada does the job perfectly. Agathiyar then questions Narathar, "how many times did you chant "Narayana"'s name today?" for which Narathar answered saying "how can I even think of revering my name, when I have a burden kept in my hands?". Agathiyar explains to Narathar, that he has one smallest burden, but even while doing that you forgot to chant your name. But that man has much troubles in his family and many burdens. But he still remembered and chanted

's name, which makes him the best devotee of

was in a

Yazh The yazh ( ta, யாழ், also transliterated yāḻ, ) is an harp used in ancient Tamil music. It was strung with gut strings that ran from an curved ebony neck to a boat or trough-shaped resonator, the opening of which was a covered with s ...

competition with Agathiyar Muni, because of taunting comments by the Narathar Muni. But who shall be the competition's referee?

called

Goddess Saraswati Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a god ...

, but Saraswati told them, we both her eyes. So, she leaves them. Then only Ravan select for "Ponmalai" because stones only not melting to anything. both are composing the instrument

who turn composing the

when the mount started to melt, they won the competition. Unfortunately, Ravana loses the competition and then Agathiyar was given new name to "ponmalai", it named by Pothigai Malai (meaning it was give judgement for constant (or) the judgement is impartial). It is said that two demon brothers Ilavala and Vathapi used to kill Brahmins as a revenge in a simple manner. The two had special powers, they came up with a plan to take revenge on Brahmins. "Vatapi" would turn in to ripe mango. He would invite any passers-by, especially Brahmins for a grand feast at his home. After they eat the mango, Ilavala would call his brother out: "Vathapi" , his brother would respond from the belly of the visitor and come out alive in one piece. In the process the guest would be killed. The two demons later would enjoy a curry made of human flesh. One day, Agathiyar happened to pass by, the plan as usual, Vatapi changed into a ripe mango and the other disguised himself as brahmachari (Sage of Bachelor) who invited Agathiyar to eat at the home. Agathiyar knew about the plan due to his immense Vedic Power, he resolves to teach both a lesson. After the meal, Agathiyar simply rubbed his stomach saying "Vathapi Jeerano bhave" may Vathapi be digested, while other demon tries to bring his brother life, but in vain. Agathiyar plainly informed the demon that his brother has been digested and could no longer be brought back to life, bringing their treachery to an end.

Cast

;Actors *

as Agathiyar * T. R. Mahalingam as Narathar * A. V. M. Rajan as Lord Siva *

as Ravaneswaran/ Langeswaran * T. K. Bhagavathy as Devendran * Sasikumar as Jayandran (Devendran's son) * Sivakumar as Poet Tholkappiayan *

A. K. Veerasami A. K. Veerasamy was an Indian actor who acted in over 500 films in the Tamil language, in supporting and minor roles. One verse that he spoke of in the Mudhal Mariyadhai film, "''Enakku Oru Unmai Therinchavunum"'' dialogue is still far from ...

as Saint * Usilai Mani as Boodham * O. A. K. Thevar as Vinthiyan (Vindhya mount) * T. N. Sivathanu as Vadhaapi or Saththamuni *

Typist Gopu Gopalarathnam, known by his stage name Typist Gopu, was an Indian actor known for comedy and supporting roles. He acted in over 600 stage plays and 400 films. Career A native of Manakkal, Lalgudi in Trichy district, Gopalarathnam was active ...

as Vilvala or Saagaramuni *

E. R. Sahadevan E. R. Sahadevan was a Tamil veteran villain actor. He acted as the villain along with M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He made his debut film Rajasekaran Emantha Sonagiri, rele ...

* K. D. Santhanam * Shanmugasundari * Master Sekhar * Master Sridhar *Gundu Karuppaiah *S. Ramarao ;Actresses *

as Goddess Parvathy *

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

as Ponni/ Kaviri * C. R. Vijayakumari as Mandothari * Manorama as Selli *

A. Sakunthala Arunachalam. Sakunthala (C. I. D. Sakunthala) is an Indian actress. She has filled roles as a Heroine, Item number Dancer, and Villainess in over 600 Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. The first movie in which she performed as an act ...

Urvasi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and ''Puranic'' scr ...

* M. Bhanumathi as Kakkai Padiniyar * Rajakokila * Baby Sridevi as

Lord Murugan Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

* V. Vasantha * P. Seethalakshmi * Kalasree

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

. lyrics were written by Ulundurpet Shanmugam, Poovai Senguttuvan, K. D. Santhanam, Era. Pazhanisamy, Puthaneri Subramanyam and Nellai Arulmani. The song "Isaiyai Tamizhai" is set in Kharaharapriya raga. The song "Vendriduven" is a ragamalika comprising 16 ragas and is composed in such a way that the name of the raga used in each stanza is a word play on a common Tamil word which sounds similar to the raga's name starting with Nattai,

Bhairavi Bhairavi ( sa, भैरवी) is a Hindu goddess, described as one of the Mahāvidyas, the ten avatars of the mother goddess. She is the consort of Bhairava. Etymology The name ''Bhairavi'' means "terror" or "awe-inspiring". She is th ...

Todi Todi () is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) of the province of Perugia (region of Umbria) in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction. I ...

Arabhi Arabhi or Aarabhi (pronounced ārabhi) is a ragam (musical scale) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). It is a ''Janya'' raga (derived scale), whose ''Melakarta'' raga (parent scale, also known as ''janaka'') is '' Shankarabharan ...

Shanmukhapriya Shanmukhapriya is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 56th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Chāmaram in Muthuswami Diksh ...

, Darbar, Hamsadhwani, Vasantha,

Mohanam Mohanam is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāga (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is usually described as a '' janya'' rāga of Harikamboji (28th Melakartha Raga) ...

, Manolayam, Bageshri, Saranga,

Kamboji ''Kambhoji Kalamandalam Madness'' is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language musical action dance romantic fantasy disaster malam cult film written and directed by Vinod Kambhoji Mankara and nolan. The film stars Vineeth, Anuraga Simham Vineeth and Lak ...

, Gowrimanohari, Kalyani and

Saraswathi Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a god ...

References

External links

* {{A. P. Nagarajan 1970s Tamil-language films 1972 films Films about Hinduism Films about royalty Films directed by A. P. Nagarajan Films scored by Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Films with screenplays by A. P. Nagarajan Hindu devotional films Hindu mythological films Indian dance films Indian epic films Indian films based on actual events Indian musical films Religious epic films