‘Statue of Oneness’

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan unveiled a 108-foot-tall statue of the 8th-century spiritual leader Adi Shankaracharya naming it as ‘Statue of Oneness’ in Omkareshwar.

• The ‘Statue of Oneness’, depicts Shankaracharya as a 12-year-old child when he is said to have visited Omkareshwar, which is one among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines.
• The statue weighs 100 tonnes and was conceptualised by an Indian team of artists, a sculptor and engineers.
• The metal casting was done in China’s Nanchang city and shipped to Mumbai in several batches.
• The idol, installed on a 75-foot platform, is made up of bronze that contains 88% copper, 4% zinc and 8% tin.
• Its internal structure is made-up of high-quality steel.
• The design for the statue was conceptualised founding inspiration in Raja Ravi Verma’s depiction of Shankaracharya.

Who was Adi Shankaracharya?

• Adi Shankaracharya is generally considered an eighth-century religious teacher.
• According to a commonly held view, Adi Shankaracharya was born in 788 AD.
• Adi Shankara, as he is popularly known among his followers, was born in Kalady village -now a small town in the Ernakulam district - situated on the bank of a river of the same name in Kerala.
• He was an exceptional child as Adi Shankara had become fluent in Sanskrit by the age of two. By four, he was comfortably reciting scriptures including Vedas.
• The burning quest for attaining superior knowledge from an early age pushed Adi Shankara to leave his home and set on the search for a guru.
• His quest ended with Govind Bhagvatpad at Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh) on the bank of the Narmada River.
• Adi Shankara excelled under the tutelage of Govind Bhagvatpad, who instructed him to write commentaries on scriptures on completion of his learning. Adi Shankara was just 12 at the time.
• Following his guru's command, Adi Shankara wrote commentaries explaining the subtle meanings hidden in scriptures.
• To his ardent followers, Adi Shankaracharya was an incarnation of Lord Shiva, who came to the earth for 32 years.

Religion and Philosophy:

• Adi Shankaracharya championed the Advait branch of philosophy that declared that god and humans were not two. He then set out to spread the message of his guru.
• From the age of 16 to 32, Adi Shankaracharya traveled across the length and breadth of India with the message of Vedas.
• He pronounced that 'Brahman or pure consciousness is the absolute reality that is attainable by human beings and that the material world is an illusion.
• He established his supremacy in religion and philosophy in debating duels with experts and chief of ashram after ashram from north to south and east to west.
• The defeat would end up hitherto expert philosophers accepting young Adi Shankara as their guru ad accepting his interpretation of the scriptures.

Important Literary work

• Adi Shankaracharya wrote 18 commentaries on the scriptures including the Brahma Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, and 12 major Upanishads.
• He wrote about two dozen books elucidating the fundamentals of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy.
• Some of these books are Viveka Chudamani, Atma Bodha, Vaakya Vritti, and Upadesa Sahasri.
• Adi Shankaracharya is credited to have composed 72 devotional and meditative hymns such as Soundarya Lahari, Sivananda Lahari, Nirvana Shalkam, Maneesha Panchakam.

Important Ashram founded by Adi Shankaracharya

• Having established his superiority among all exponents of religion and philosophy of the time, Adi Shankaracharya founded four ashrams in the four corners of the country–
  • Badrinath for Atharva Veda.
  • Puri for Rig Veda
  • Dwaraka for Sama Veda
  • Sringeri for Yajur Veda
• These were the centres to elucidate the essence of Advaita philosophy.