Kanchi Sankara Mutt, Kanchipuram

Kanchipuram, one of the seven holy cities of India, is considered a city of 1000 temples. Besides the temples, one of the important places in the city is Kanchi Shankara Mutt. (In South India, it is written as "mutt", whereas it is spelled as "math" in the north. It means monastery or a holy place where the sages live). 

Kanchi Shankara Mutt is located in the heart of the city. It is believed that it was established by Adi Shankaracharya, the great reformer of Hinduism, in 482 BC. It is also believed that he attained samadhi (died) in 477 BC in Kanchipuram. However, there are many controversies about the above statements. Many people believe that Adi Shankaracharya was born in the 8th century CE, and he attained samadhi in Badrinath. (Interestingly, we can find Adi Shankara samadhis in Badrinath and Thrisur.) Some people claim that Adi Shankaracharya didn't establish the Kanchi mutt; it was a branch of the Sringeri mutt in Kumbakonam city that became independent and shifted to Kanchipuram.

Adi Shankaracharya was the one who pacified the Goddess Kamakshi by establishing Sri Chakra. His history is very well connected to the temple of the most famous Kamakshi Amman Temple of Kanchipuram city. However, some people contend that the Kamakshi Amman temple was originally a Jain or Buddhist temple, and Shankaracharya converted that into Kamakshi temple in the 8th century CE.

Obviously, Shankara Mutt in Kanchipuram became very famous in the 20th century CE during the period of then Kanch Shankaracharya (Kanchi seer) Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Swami. He lived for 100 years, and there are still millions of devotees for him. His samadhi is located in Kanchi mutt.

The devotees visit Sankara Mutt to get darshan of two Shankaracharyas (Jeyendra and Vijeyendra) and visit the samadhi of Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Swami. There are also some small shrines and Murtis (icons) in Sankara Mutt.

Happy travelling.

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