On PM Modi's Kerala visit, BJP to project Adi Shankaracharya as national icon
KOCHI: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Sri Adi Shankara Janma Bhoomi Kshetram at Kalady on Thursday, the BJP will be taking one more step towards its plan to project Sankaracharya as an icon of cultural integration of Bharat.
The BJP sees Sankaracharya as someone who had united the Hindus and it was former BJP president Amit Shah who gave momentum to the process by describing him as someone who “successfully united Hindus’’ in 2020. Following this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled a 12-foot-high statue of Sri Sankaracharya at Kedarnath, the samadhi sthal of the seer, on November 5, 2021. Union ministers and BJP leaders had offered prayers at the 100 sacred sites located along the route taken by Adi Sankaracharya during his Bharat parikrama during that occasion.
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had launched his campaign for the 2018 assembly elections from Kalady on December 29, 2017. The Madhya Pradesh cabinet has also approved a Rs 2,141-crore project to install a 108-foot-tall statue of Adi Sankaracharya at Omkareshwar on February 9, 2022. As part of this larger plan, National monuments authority chairman Tarun Vijay had approached Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in June this year seeking support to develop the birthplace of Adi Sankaracharya in Kalady as a national monument. Raj Bhavan has sought the opinion of the state government in this regard.
The PM’s visit has increased the possibility of a declaration in this regard. “Sri Adi Sankaracharya is the symbol of Indian intellectual tradition. He was the great unifier of Bharat and he integrated the whole nation. The spiritual foundation laid down by Adi Sankaracharya helped Bharat to survive a series of brutal invasions. Hence, the PM’s visit to Adi Sankara’s birthplace at Kalady during Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav has a historical relevance,” said J Nandakumar, RSS ideologue and national convenor of Prajna Pravah, a Sangh think tank.
Sankaracharya, known for consolidating the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy had established four mutts -- at Badrinath Jyothir Peeta in the north, Dwarka’s Shardha peeth in the west, Govardhan Peeth at Puri in the east and Sharada Peeth at Sringeri in the south. “Sankaracharya kindled the real Indian renaissance which still lives on. His philosophy negates caste-based discrimination. He professed that even a mere thought of casteism prevents one from attaining Moksha. Those who ran a smear campaign against him for decades seem to have accepted him now. It’s time for Kerala to reclaim his great legacy and identity itself as Adi Shankara’s land,” Nandakumar added.
Retired professor of Sree Sankara College PV Peethambaran also shared similar views. “The four mutts established by Adi Sankara have served as pillars of cultural integration of Bharat. He propounded the philosophy of Advaita establishing the theory that Jeevatma and Paramatma are one. Through the Shanmatham system of worship. he established that the myriad deities of Hinduism are one and the same. He fought against social evils and reformed the rituals at major temples including Guruvayur. By giving the post of chief priest at Badrinath temple to a Kerala Brahmin, he ensured cultural integrity between north and south,” said Peethambaran.
Political critic J Prabhash felt that PM Modi’s visit to Kalady “won’t have any resonance in Kerala politics per se’’. Prabhash, however, added that the events cannot be viewed in isolation. “The Sangh Parivar is trying to mobilise people from various social classes and appropriate social icons like Sreenarayana Guru to Swami Vivekananda… What the RSS has been doing is part of a grand narrative to build bridges between themselves and different social and community groups. But whether the BJP would end up benefiting from this plan, only time will tell,” added Prabhash.
(With inputs from Anil S)