Monday, June 11, 2012

Kalady - The Birth Place of Adi Shankara

Kalady is the birth place of the great Hindu saint Adi Shankara who lived between 788-820 AD.It was Adi Sankara who propounded the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta or non duality of the body and soul. He also established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra. As a child, Shankara showed remarkable scholarship, mastering the four Vedas by the age of eight.
At the age of 7, Shankara was inclined towards Sanyasa.There is an interesting story as to how Sankara got his mothers permission. While bathing in the river Poorna one day, a crocodile caught hold of his leg. Shankara appealed to his mother, who had arrived at Poorna, asking for permission to become a sanyasi. His mother finally gave consent, only to have the crocodile let go of young Shankara. A crocodile had never been found in Poorna river before or since then.
Adi Sankara the length and breadth of India by foot propounding his philosophy of  Advaitha and participating in many debates against Hindu,Buddhist,Jain and other scholars and converting them to his philosophy. Adi Shankara founded four Mathas to guide the Hindu religion. These are at Sringeri Karnataka in the South, Dwaraka in Gujarat in the West, Puri in Orissa in the East, and Jyothirmath (Joshimath) inUttarakhand in the North. 
 Towards the end of his life, Adi Shankara traveled to the Himalayan region of Kedarnath-Badrinath and attained Videha Mukti  ("freedom from embodiment"). There is a Samadhir Mandir dedicated to Adi Shankara behind the Kedarnath temple.
Adi Shankara Janmabhoomi Kshetram
Architecture of the kshetram building - above & below
The Temple Office
The Sri Krishna Temple from outside- for history & legends log onto: http://srikrishnatemplekalady.org/
The Sri Krishna Temple - Front View as you enter
The traditional Kerala temple architecture
Side View of the Temple
The Purna River
Devotees having a dip - water level was considerably low
Another view of the Purna River
The Veda Patashala -  Students are taught Vedas here
Vedapatashala (School) Campus
The Sri Sankara Guest House where we spent a night-A/C rooms are available at reasonable rates

34 comments:

  1. What a glorious temple it is and you will keep posting water so that people from Delhi/NCR can feel the heat more? :D

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  2. Yes, lots of water scenes in your blog lately. Indians are a religious people.

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  3. I straight away think of Bhaja Govindam!

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  4. Great series of beautiful photos.
    Thanks for sharing this interesting post.
    Mette

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  5. Thanks for the pics. The river is amazing and perennial. Looks lovely

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  6. Beautiful temple. The crocodile story- I wasn't aware of it!

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  7. beautiful buildings. i like the murals on that one small temple. very beautiful.

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  8. such a beautiful river! and in India every river will have a story too :)

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  9. Very nice post indeed ...
    Thanks for all the information and beautiful pics ...

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  10. Wonderful. I really appreciate your informative posts and beautiful photos.

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  11. Great pics.. once again! Its nice to visit all these places from home!

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  12. Namaste....
    wow "non duality of the body and soul" sounds interesting, is there a book you'd recommend to read more about this philosophy?

    Great photographs and lesson. Thank you.

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  13. Interesting story accompanied with great pics! Thanks a lot for sharing. Mythology always fascinates me.

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  14. Beautiful temple and that river looks tempting. Nice photos and narration.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

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  15. Very nice place... Hope someday I will be visiting this place...

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  16. Hello.
    Very interesting post. Great photos as always. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. wow beautiful pictures... I studied in Sankara vidyalaya and know about this place... but never been there... thanks for sharing the photos...

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  18. Beautiful part of the world, I love it.

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  19. Beautiful travelogue about kalady, the birth place of adi shankara, you beautifully expressed

    also thanks for visiting my blog

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  20. Beautiful travelogue about kalady, the birth place of adi shankara, you beautifully expressed

    also thanks for visiting my blog

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  21. What a great place to visit!
    Lucky you!

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  22. I did not know about this Temple...I like the architecture...so detailed

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  23. Beautiful pictures! What a lovely place, especially the river.

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  24. It looks such a beautiful place. Great photos!!

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  25. Wonderful shots of the place. Never knew of this place before.

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  26. Wonderful..! Just a question .. Is advance booking necessary for accommodation at the Sankara Guest house?

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  27. @Sridharan: No advance booking is necessary.

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  28. @Sridharan: No advance booking is necessary.

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  29. Beautiful and serene place.The pictures make me yearn to visit the holy place.Thanks

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  30. That is an epic series. I am bookmarking it for the moment to soak myself in it at leisure!

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