Kochi: The birthplace of Adi Adi Shankaracharya, a great philosopher seer and exponent of Advaita Vedanta, may get the status of National Monument, the Chairman of National Monuments Authority, a constitutional body for the national monuments, Shri Tarun Vijay stated today after an official visit to Kalady. He also planted a Rudraksh sapling in the Adi Sankara temple premises. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very keen on preserving the heritage and removing the historical wrongs done to our heritage by colonial historians. He is guided by his vision.
Shri Tarun Vijay said that he is coming to Kalady having visited the Kedarnath temple recently where the Prime Minister had inaugurated the statue of Adi Sankara. He is surprised that due to the prejudiced historians and a colonial mindset, a graveyard of Afzal Khan (who was eliminated by Shivaji) 's sixty-two wives is declared a Monument of National Importance under British rule but the great place of our civilisational rejuvenation like Kalady's Sankara birthplace has been ignored.
He said that the entire birthplace includes Poorna (Periyar) river, Muthalakavadu (crocodile ghat), and the last rite memorial pillar of Adi Sankara's mother Aryamba-( 8th CE) may form a sacred space national monument dedicated to the great seer.
The "Muthala Kadavu," or Crocodile Ghat, is where Shankara's life turned to sannyasa (ascetic life). As per the legend, 'his mother Aryamba did not agree with his desire to become a sannyasin. One day, Shankara was touched by a dog and, as per custom followed by the community, Shankara had to take bath. Accompanied by his mother, Shankara went to the river Poorna to bathe. While in the water, a crocodile caught hold of his leg. The drowning he told his mother that the crocodile would leave him alone if she would allow him to take up sannyasa. Helpless, his mother agreed, and the crocodile freed Shankara.'
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