Madhya Pradesh government will start construction of a 108 feet high statue of Adi Shankaracharya on the bank of Narmada river at Omkareshwar in Khandwa district on January 22.
Adi Shankaracharya who had revived and spread the philosophy of Advait Vedanta is said to have met his Guru Govinda Bhagavatpada at Omkareshwar and received initiation there.
The state government will organise an ‘Ekatm Yatra’ (journey for oneness) for collecting metals and soil on a symbolic level which will be used in the construction of the colossal statue. The yatra will begin from four places- Omkareshwar, Ujjain, Amarkantak and Pachmatha of Rewa districts- on December 19. The 35 day-long-yatra will pass through most of the districts in the state and conclude on January 22 at Omkareshwar.
The first meeting of the state organizing committee for the yatra (Ekatma Yatra Rajya Ayojan Samiti) took place a few days back, chaired by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
MP government goes ahead with its plan to build Adi Shankaracharya statue when three neighbouring BJP ruled states are moving ahead on their ambitious projects related to construction of colossal statues of iconic figures - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat, Chhatrapati Shivaji in Mumbai and Lord Ram at Ayodhya.
On why they chose Adi Shankaracharya, when they could have chosen ‘Ma Narmada’ or Raja Bhoj, Manoj Shrivastava, principal secretary culture and religious trusts said, “Adi Shankaracharya was responsible for cultural and religious unity of India. He met his Guru, got initiated and spent his student days here.”
{{/usCountry}}On why they chose Adi Shankaracharya, when they could have chosen ‘Ma Narmada’ or Raja Bhoj, Manoj Shrivastava, principal secretary culture and religious trusts said, “Adi Shankaracharya was responsible for cultural and religious unity of India. He met his Guru, got initiated and spent his student days here.”
{{/usCountry}}MP government constituted the state organising committee for the yatra on October 23 for the Ekatm yatra. Spiritual gurus, state ministers, chairpersons of various boards, public representatives, administrative officials, vice-chancellors and experts from various fields have been included in the 98 member committee.
In February, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said at Omkareshwar that an institute of excellence in the memory of Adi Shankaracharya would be established at Omkareshwar and a course would be introduced about him in the school syllabus. In April Chouhan announced that Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti will be celebrated in the state in a grand manner to apprise people about his life and philosophy.