Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti this is observed on Panchami Thiti during Sukla paksha of Vaishaka masam . He consolidated the doctrine of Advita Vedanta. He was born in Kalady village in Kerala during 788 C.E and he went to Maha Shamadhi at the age of 32. In this shortest span, he did whatever needed to be done to protect Sanatan Dharma in his time and also for generations to come.

Here goes the life story of the great Indian philosopher Adi Shankaracharya.  Once Shankaracharya’s father could not go to the temple and sent child Shankara with a pot filled with milk to offer it to the Lord, but after visiting the temple he started crying because the sannadhi was closed. Suddenly two hands appeared and took the offering and gave a little bit as prashadam too.

Once Shankar went to a home to seek alms and the lady of the home came out side and was too sad as she had nothing to give expect one gooseberry. She gave it to Shankar and he sang a song, Kanakadhara Stotram on Goddess Lakshmi and she gave a rain fall of golden gooseberries to the woman.

Once, Shankar’s mother was going to take her usual bath but unable to bear the heat and collapsed. Shankar who was waiting for her got anxious and rushed to see her lying on the floor. He made his mother to wake up and requested the river Purans to change her path closer to his house. Pleased with Shankar’s devotion toward his mother river Purna was flowing behind his home in the morning.

He renounced all the worldly pleasures at a very young age.. Throughout the course of his early life, Shankara astounded many with his knowledge of intelligence. He wrote his own analysis of the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita at a young age. Right from his childhood, he was keen on becoming a monk.  Even though his idea of becoming a monk was opposed by his mother, Shankara knew exactly what he had to do.

Once he accompanied his mother to the nearby river and took a plung. Suddenly, a crocodile appeared from beneath the river and caught hold of his leg. Shankara then cried out to his mother, saying that a crocodile was pulling him into the river. When his mother felt helpless, Shankara urged her to allow him to becoming a monk. As soon as Aryamba gave her consent, the crocodile spared Shankara’s life and went back into the river. Shankara was miraculously unharmed and went on to become a monk as his mother had already given him the permission to do so.

Shankara studied ‘Gaudapadiya Karika’, ‘Brahmasutra’, Vedas, and Upanishads. To his teacher’s amazement, Shankara was able to master almost all the ancient scripts in a short period of time. He even started writing commentaries on major religious scripts. Once he had a clear understanding of the ancient Hindu scripts, he started traveling across India, propagating ‘Advaita Vedanta’ and ‘Dashanami Sampradaya.’.

Adi Shankaracharya’s philosophy was simple and also straightforward. He advocated the existence of the human soul and supreme soul. He believed that the supreme soul alone is real and unchanging while the soul is a changing entity and that it does not have absolute existence.

At the age of 32, Adi Shankaracharya retired to the Himalayas and is believed to have entered a cave near Kedarnath. He was never seen again and this cave that he entered is considered as his final resting place. In this brief time Adhi Shankara has established Mutts in all directions to spread and protect Santana Dharma.

The world celebrates the joyous occasion of Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti by fasting the whole day, Worship Lord Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesh, Surya and Devi along with reciting Bhagavad Gita and other mantras and feeding people as a charitable act.