Agasthyarkoodam

Agasthyarkoodam, officially Agastya Malai, is a 1,868-metre peak of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve in the southern Western Ghats, in Thiruvananthapuram district near the Tamil Nadu border. The Thamirabarani rises on its eastern flank and flows into Tirunelveli, while the Karamana and Neyyar run west through Kerala.

The mountain is one of the main trekking routes at the southern end of the Ghats and also a pilgrimage for devotees of Agastya, one of the seven great sages, whom Tamil tradition honours as the founder of the language and the compiler of its earliest grammar. A small stone figure of the sage on the summit receives offerings of flowers. In March 2016 UNESCO added the biosphere reserve to its world network; its forests shelter nearly 300 rare kinds of bird and over 200 medicinal plants found only in this region.