Shankaracharya Jayanti 2023: Date, History, Celebration

Adi Shankaracharya was a well-known Indian philosopher who is attributed with the founding of doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy and spiritual realization. He traveled throughout India, spreading his teachings and beliefs and established four mathas (monasteries) in the country in all directions. Shankarachaya is also credited with increasing the popularity and importance of monastic life that has already been approved by the Hindu Upanishads and Brahma Sutra.

Every year, his birth anniversary is observed as Shankaracharya Jayanti and is celebrated with great excitement among his devotees. Let us know some more details about the Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti 2023 here from this article.

Shankaracharya Jayanti 2023 Overview

Shankaracharya Jayanti 2023 Date

Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti is calculated as per the Hindu calendar and is observed on Panchami Tithi during Shukla Paksha of Vaishakha month. According to the Gregorian calendar, this day usually falls in the month of April or May.

In the year 2023, Shankaracharya Jayanti will be celebrated on April 25, 2023, Tuesday.

History of Adi Shankaracharya

Adi Shankaracharya is believed to be born in the 788 CE in Kalady, Kerala to a Nambudiri Brahmin couple. However, there are many controversies related to the year in which Shankara was born, proposing his existence to be dated back to 509 BCE.

His parents were quite old and did a lot of religious work and had devoted their lives to serving the poor. Shankara’s father died when he was very young which delayed the starting of his student life. At an early age, Shankara had started showing his attraction towards living a life of ascetic. However, due to his mother’s disapproval he started living the heretic life at an older age only after taking her permission to do so. There is a story about how he made his other agree to him living an ascetic life. When he was eight years old he went to a river with his mother. While bathing, a crocodile caught his leg and with his leg still inside the crocodile’s mouth, he called out to his mother and asked her permission to live like a hermit. Seeing his devotion to this, Shankara’s mother finally gave his permission and he freed himself after that. He then left his house and reached a Saivite sanctuary somewhere along a river in north-central India, where he became a disciple of Govinda Bhagavatpada.

It is believed that Shankaracharya disappeared without a trace behind the Kedarnath temple while walking in the Himalayas. It is therefore termed that he died at the age of 32 in the 820 CE.

Teaching of Adi Shankaracharya

Adi Shankara considered himself to be an incarnation of Shiva. He is attributed with the founding of the Advaita Vedanta which establishes that world is just an illusion and Brahman alone is ultimately real.

It is believed that four Amnaya Mathas (or monasteries) were founded by Shankara in every direction where he organized a section of the Ekadandi monks. In the East, there is Puri Govardhanmatha Pitham, located in Puri, Odisha. Dvaraka Sarada Pitham is in the West and is located in Dwarka, Gujarat. In North and South, there are Badari Jyotirmatha Pitham and Sringeri Sarada Pitham situated in Chamoli, Uttarakhand and Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka respectively. These four mathas turned out to be very helpful in the development, revival and spread of Advaita Vedanta However, it is also a belief that these mathas were not established by Shankara himself but were the ashrams established by the great rishi of Ramayana times, Vibhandaka and his son Rsyasrnga.

Shankara also wrote more than 300 texts that consist of commentaries (Bhasya), original philosophical expositions (Prakarana Grantha) and poetry (Stotra). Shankara made a number of disciples during his travel around the country who themselves turned out to be great philosophers of their time.

Celebration of Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti 2023

His birth anniversary, Shankaracharya Jayanti, is a significant festival especially among followers of Sanatana Dharma.  Sanatana Dharma or eternal order is nothing but another name of Hinduism. Prayers and preaching of Adi Shankaracharya are recited on the day of Shankaracharya Jayanti in various mathas.

The four mathas namely, Puri Govardhanmatha Pitham, Dvaraka Sarada Pitham, Badari Jyotirmaṭha Pitham and Sringeri Sarada Sarada observe this festival with even greater enthusiasm.

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