Adi Shankaracharya Statue at Omkareshwar

  • September 23, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Adi Shankaracharya Statue at Omkareshwar

Subject: History

Section: Art and culture

Source: IE

Context: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan unveiled the 108-foot-tall ‘Statue of Oneness’ of Adi Shankaracharya at Omkareshwar.

  • The statue represents Adi Shankaracharya as a 12-year-old child, the age he was said to have visited Omkareshwar.
  • The statue is intended to endure for more than 500 years, while the museum building is designed to have a service life of 100 years.

Who Was Adi Shankaracharya?

  • Lived between 788 and 820 AD and was born in Kerala’s Kaladi.
  • He became a sanyasin at an early age, studied under his guru Govinda Bhagavatpada, and became a proponent of Advaita Vedanta.
  • He authored 116 works, including commentaries on the 10 Upanishads, the Brahmasutra, and the Gita.
  • During his 32-year lifespan, he visited all the important spiritual centers of the time, including Kanchi, Kamrup, Kashmir, Kedar, Badri dhams, Sringeri, Ujjain, Kashi, Puri, and Joshimath.

Why Is the Mandhata Island an Important Religious Destination?

  • The Mandhata island, located on the Narmada River, houses two of the 12 Jyotirlingas – Omkareshwara and Amareshwara.
  • It features Shaivite, Vaisnavite, and Jain temples from the 14th and 18th centuries.
  • The island’s name ‘Omkareshwar’ is derived from its shape, resembling the sacred syllable ‘Om‘.
  • Puranas say that Lord Shiva pierced the world as an endless pillar of light, called the jyotirlinga.
  • There are 12 jyotirlinga sites in India that are considered a manifestation of Shiva:
  1. Somnath in Prabhas Patan, Saurashtra, Gujarat
  2. Mallikarjuna in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
  3. Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
  4. Omkareshwar in Mandhata Island, Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh
  5. Kedarnath in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
  6. Bhimashankar in Pune district, Maharashtra
  7. Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
  8. Trimbakeshwar (Trimbak) in Nashik district, Maharashtra
  9. Vaidyanath (Vaijnath) in Deoghar, Jharkhand
  10. Nageshwar (Aundha Nagnath) in Dwarka, Gujarat
  11. Rameshwar (Ramanathaswamy) in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
  12. Grishneshwar in Ellora, near Aurangabad, Maharashtra

What Went into Making the 108 ft Statue?

  • The multi-metal statue is installed atop Mandhata Parvat hill, facing southwards toward the Narmada River.
  • Weighing 100 tons, the statue was conceptualized by an Indian team of artists, sculptors, and engineers, with metal casting done in China’s Nanchang city.
  • The statue is made primarily of bronze, containing 88% copper, 4% zinc, and 8% tin.
  • Its internal structure is made up of high-quality steel, and it stands on a 75-foot-high platform.
  • At the base of the statue is the Shankar Stambh, featuring wooden domes and stone pillars with carvings depicting 32 stories related to Acharya Shankar.

What Are the Other Projects?

  • Ekatma Dham includes the Advaita Lok museum, showcasing Acharya Shankar’s life and philosophy.
  • The museum boasts a variety of architectural styles, including “Nagara, Dravidian, Oriya, Maru-Gurjara, Hoysala, North Indian-Himalayan, and Kerala.”
  • The Acharya Shankar International Institute of Advaita Vedanta.
  • The Maharshi Vedavyasa Advaita Library serves as a comprehensive resource center for scholars in Advaita Vedanta.
  • A 36-hectare forest is planned for meditation seekers.
Adi Shankaracharya Statue at Omkareshwar History