A great day today – ‘Chithiraiyil seyya Thiruvathirai’ – the day of our
Acarya Empermanaar thiruvavathirai thinam.
I am so
impressed and heard this song so many times – a song written by Pulloottupadathu
Bhaskaran who was also was the director of the movie – it was sung by Jesudoss to the music of V Dakshinamurthi.
Of the many
divyadesams – Thiruvathari and Salagrammam present difficulties primarily due
to their locations. The object in life is to do kainkaryam, have darshan of our
Emperuman at various divyadesam and as ordained by Thirumangaimannan – one
should travel to Badrinath in their prime of youth, when they are healthy. From Haridwar, one travels via Rishikesh, can
have darshan at Devaprayag, then probably halt at Pipalkot – next day morning
proceed to Badrinath via Joshimath. One
will pass through Pauri, Srinagar, Chamoli Gopeshwar.
Adhi
Shankara @ Devaprayag / Kandam enum kadinagar
On the way to ‘Jai
bolo Badrinath’ is the beautiful Devaprayag.
A mystic place where the holy rivers Bhagirathi and Alaknanda meet,
merge into one and take the name ‘Ganga’. Lord Rama and his father Emperor Dasharatha did penance here. The main temple
of here is ‘Raghunath Temple’, dedicated to Lord Rama. (Purushothama). Devaprayagai is divyadesam ‘Kandam enum Kadinagar’
and next is ‘Thirupiruthi – Thiru pireethi’ – aka Joshimut. Joshimath, also known as Jyotirmath, is a
city and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the
state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 6150 feet (1875 m), it is a
gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, trekking trails and
the holy pilgrim centre of Sri
Badrinath.
Joshimath, is the
first mutt established by Shri Adi Sankara, and is located at a distance of 14
kms from Helang enroute to Badri 6150 feet above sea level. Adi Sankara
authored Sri Sankara Bhashyam here.
Today is also celebrated as ‘Sankara
Jayanthi’ – associated with sage, greatest philosopher Adi Shankara. The day is celebrated on the Panchami tithi
(fifth day) in the Shukla paksh (waxing moon) in the Vaishakh month of the
Hindu calendar. The 1232nd birth
anniversary of Adi Shankara is being
celebrated today.
The word ‘Sankara’ means one who bestows prosperity and
auspiciousness on all people and all beings. Srimad Adhi Sankara Bhagavatpada, has done great
service to Hinduism. Sri
Sankara Bhagavatpada is verily the incarnation of Lord Siva, whose abode is
Kailasa. He is Gnani, who mastered all Sastras with absolute clarity. He
carried his mortal frame only for 32 years. At an young age, he embraced
sanyasa asrama,
wandered extensively from Sethu to Himalayas, debated with and conquered
scholars, re-established the traditional
Advaita Vedanta, established Mathas, organised succession of disciples to head
those Mathas, set up new temples, removed deficiencies in old temples, set up
untainted Pooja practices, set up Vaidika dharma on strong foundation, taught
wholesome Gnana marga.
When young Shankara
wanted to turn ascetic, his mother was not in favour of this decision. He
waited to grow up and take her permission. Once, he was bitten by a crocodile
in his leg while taking a bath in a river near his house. While the crocodile
was holding his limb, he asked his mother for her approval to let him become a
sanyasi. Her mother agreed, and thus began the journey of Adi Shankara. His works in Sanskrit discuss the unity of
the Ātman and Nirguna Brahman "brahman without attributes". He wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic
canon (Brahma Sutras, Principal Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita) in support of his
thesis. His works elaborate on ideas
found in the Upanishads. Shankara
travelled widely across the Indian
subcontinent to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with
other thinkers.
Adhi Shankara @ Kaladi - birthplace
Shankara was born
in the state of Kerala, in a village called Kaladi, located between Angamaly
and Perumbavoor, east of the Periyar river.
It is also a village in Aluva Taluk, Ernakulam district of Kerala, closer to Cochin International Airport. His
father died while Shankara was very young and Adhi Shankara himself died very
young @ 32. The Shankara Shrine at
Kalady, run by the Sringeri Math, is a large, partly open structure situated on
the northern bank of the river Periyar. There are two major shrines in the
temple; one is dedicated to Shankara and the other to Goddess Saradamba, the main
deity of Sringeri. The samadhi (place of death) of Shankara's mother is also
located here.
At Kaladi, Sri Adi
Sankara Keerthi Sthamba Mandapam is an eight-story memorial built by Kanchi
Kamakoti Math. The entrance to the memorial, guarded by two elephant statues,
leads to the Paduka Mandapam. Two silver knobs represent the padukas, or wooden
sandals of the Teacher. The walls of the memorial feature framed relief
paintings that tell the story of Adi Shankaracharya.
Of the large number
of disciples who had the rare and inestimable privilege of serving the great
Acharya Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada, four stand out prominent. Each one of them
was unrivalled in his own way: Padmapada for intense devotion, Totaka for
exemplary service, Hastamalaka for supreme self-realisation and Sureshwara for
deep learning.
Adhi Shankara @ holy
Badrinath shrine
The song I
mentioned at the start is ‘Shankara Digvijayam’ in the Malayalam movie
Jagadguru Adhi Shankara – sung by Jesudoss, written by P Bhaskaran, to the
music of V Dakshinamurthy – Muralimohan (as Acharya Shankara) – this song
depicts the sojourn of Shankaracharya visiting various temples including
Chottanikkara, Thrissur Vadakkunathan, Thirumala, Thirukachi, Puri Jagannath,
Haridwar, various Prayags, Badrinath and Kedarnath. Those of us who have visited Badrinath or
Kedarnath will relish this song more
Adhi Shankara journey - from tweet of Sashi tharoor
With reverence
– S. Sampathkumar
28.4.2020.
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