Kalady

According to historians, Sri Sankaracharya, the great exponent of Advaita Vedanta, was born at Kalady in A.D.788 and attained mahasamadhi at the age of thirty-two at Kedar in the Himalayas. He left Kalady at the age of eight, met his guru Govinda Bhagavatpada on the banks of the river Narmada, and took sanyasa from him. It is believed that Sankara completed his bhashyas (commentaries) on theprasthana-traya (the Gita, the Brahmasutras, and the Upanishads) before he was sixteen years of age. Tradition has it that the omniscient sage Vyasa granted him a lease of sixteen years of extended life. He traveled the country extensively, propagating Advaita Vedanta, silencing his opponents in the debate. To perpetuate his teachings, he established four maths (centres) at the four cardinal points of his motherland, installing each of his four disciples as head of each centre. He returned to Kalady only once in response to the last wish of his mother. His masterly commentaries establishing and defending Advaita Vedanta remain unchallenged even in this post-modern age.