Prachyam Papers

Arise,O lion, and embark upon your divine mission.

ISSUE 03 | APRIL’23

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Adi Shankaracharya : The Spiritual Giant

~ Madhura Kulkarni

Vaishakh Shukla Panchami is celebrat- According to the above lines, although

ed as the birth anniversary of Bhagwat
Pujyapad Jagadguru Shankarachar-
ya, the great philosopher of Hinduism.
Shankaracharya is considered the su-
preme teacher of Hinduism. Around
500 BCE, he travelled all over India from
Kanyakumari to Kashmir and Dwarka to
Jagannathpuri and re-established the
Vedic religion. This article provides in-
formation about him.
the form of guru tradition has changed
with the passage of time, the brilliance
of the guru, who illuminates the eyes
with the light of knowledge in the dark-
ness of ignorance, is the path of life for
the disciple. Ignorance is the enemy of
man. Ignorance leads to indifference to
karma. Due to this, the path to religion
is also frustrated. We say that scholars
are revered everywhere. Because of
that, Shankaracharya, who developed
the Vedic religion, is the enlightener of
all of us.

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PRACHYAM PAPERS ilarly we feel it in Ashtalakshmi Stotram
too. While praising Sri Lakshmi as ma-
(Guru Parampara started from Shiva, it ashtra and visited the Trimbakeshwar jestic, bejewelled and opulent, Shanka-
continued till our Guru. Bhagavata Pu- temple. Trimbakeshwar is one of the racharya tells about her origin. O Vishnu, You took incarnations like

jyapada Shankaracharya sits unceas- twelve Jyotirlingas. The unique feature Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha,

ingly in the mediation of this Parampa- of the Jyotirlinga located here is that it Vamana, Parasurama and Sri Rama - Sri

ra.) has the idols of the three deities Brah- Krishna for the welfare of man and thus
ma, Vishnu and Shiva. Tri means ‘three’ you always protected the earth. Shan-

Adya Shankaracharya established four and ‘ambak’ means eye. Trimbak means karacharya appeals to Lord Vishnu to

Peethas at Dwarka Math, Jagannath- ‘three-eyed’, who is Bhagwan Shiva. Sri protect you from the various fevers of

puri Math, Sringeri Math and Badrikedar Shankaracharya worshipped Sri Trim- “Chandra Sahodari” means the sister of Maya arising from this world. Shanka-

Math, appointing a presiding Shankara- bakeshwar there and meditated. After the moon. Daityas and Gods had decid- racharya was highly impressed with the

charya on each of them and established extensive discussions with the sur- ed to share the jewels obtained in the love of Shakti.

the Acharya tradition. rounding people, he guided them in de- churning of the ocean. Since Sri Laksh-
votion and proper worship. After that, mi and Chandra were born from the sea, Shankaracharya composed many San-

Adi Shankara was a philosopher and Sri Shankaracharya visited Pandhar- they are blood brothers and sisters. skrit hymns on Goddess Lakshmi, Sar-

theologian who expounded the doc- pur. There is a temple of Shri Vitthal in aswati and Universal mother Parvati

trine of Advaita Vedanta. He renounced Pandharpur on the banks of river Chan- This state of union of atma with the di- Mata. Saraswati, the goddess of art

the worldly pleasures at a very young drabhaga. Shri Vitthal is a form of Lord vine lord is attained by supreme love. If and learning, was considered by him

age. Shankaracharya amalgamated the Krishna and Rukmini Devi is his consort. we look at Acharyakrit Vishnu Shatapa- to be his eternal mother. In praise of

ideologies of ancient ‘Advaita Vedanta’ di Stotra, we can realize what Shanka- her virtues, Shankaracharya composed

and also explained the basic ideas of racharya says. the hymn Sharada Bhujangprayat. It is

Upanishads. He advocated the oldest called Bhujangprayat because each

concept of Hinduism which explains the chanda has 12 letters.

unification of the soul (atman) with the Vitthala’s name means ‘one who stands
Supreme Soul (Nirguna Brahman). on a brick’. In the temple, the idol of the
deity stands on a small stone platform. He says, O Lord, I am forgetting the dif-
Adi Shankaracharya propounded The idol is three and a half feet tall. Be- ference between me and You. All my in- “Whose breast is full of love. Shankara-

the philosophy of ‘Brahmasatya Jag- low is an inverted lotus. Srishankara- terests, desires, life, and inspiration are charya says, “Sharada, who is gracious

anmithya’. He did a great job of ending charya beautifully described Shri Vitthal related to you. I am yours, but you are and auspicious, whose face is always

the controversy between Shaiva and in the Pandurangashtakam hymn. He not mine. I have no authority over that bright like the moon and whose lips are

Vaishnava. He did the work of eradicat- said “Shri Vitthal is the Parabrahmam in Parabrahma Vishnu, because the ocean red like the Kadamba fruit,I pray to Sha-

ing Pradhankarism and Gnankarma col- reality.” has waves, waves have no ocean, so I rada who is my eternal mother.”

lectivism. Shankaracharya composed am a part of you. Shankaracharya ex-

Sanskrit hymns on Ganesha, Shiva, Even though the darshan of God in Sa- plains very easily that Vishnu is eternity. Sringeri is the first Peetha (monastery)

Trishakti, Vishnu, Dashavatar. gun(Real) form is attained only by the built by Sri Adishankaracharya. Inside
siddha saints, this is a shining exam- Shankaracharya explains very easily it is the famous temple of Sarada Devi.

When Shri Shankaracharya went west ple of how Shankaracharya is providing how Vishnu is eternity,because Vishnu This monastery is situated on the banks

towards Saurashtra, he came to the that spiritual experience to the common incarnated him for the welfare of the of river Tunga.

Godavari river near Nashik in Mahar- people through his literary works! Sim- universe.

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It is said that when Aryamba was on her
deathbed, the first Shankaracharyas
wrote the stotra ‘Mathru Panchakam’ -
The hymns about mother can be gener-
ally divided into comparisons between
mother and God or praise of her divine
position. But this hymn is different. It
expresses the mother’s pain, sorrow
and the son’s frustration.
Father God Maheshwarah.’ Mother is
Jagatkalyani Parvati Devi and father is
Lord Shankar.’ On the one hand, Shan-
karacharya looks so emotional while
dealing with the subject of Mother, de-
spite being a true Gnanmurthy. Shan-
karacharya’s legacy continues and his
place as the ‘Great Commentator of the
Prasthanatrayi’ is unshakable for many
ages to come.

One can break all bonds, but the bond

with mother is never broken. How can
Adya Shankaracharya be an exception
to this? He says in ‘Matru Panchakam’ -

“At the time of giving birth to me, O

Mother!, you suffered from unbearable
pain. You did not speak about the su
fering of your body nor of your painful
condition while lying in the bed for al-
most a year. For even one of the suffe
ings that you underwent during preg-
nancy, O Mother!, a son is unable to o
fer atonement. To that mother I offer my
salutations! “

Although the Acharyas considered

Adisakti to be omnipotent, Shankara-
charya always described her as Moth-
er Shakti. At the end of the Atrapurna
Stotra he says - Mother Parvati Devi,

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Kalamkari : The Hindu Art of Storytelling on Fabric

~ Omkar Joshi

As a groom in a traditional Maharash- mind, I got busy with life.

trian wedding, I received many gifts.
Amongst all of them, there was a par-
ticular present that caught my eye. It
was a Radha-Krishna painting gifted by
a close friend. I fell in love with the di-
vine, radiant smile on the faces of Radha
Krishna in it and got intrigued by its
style. On enquiring more about it, I got
to know of it as Kalamkari. As I searched
more about it over the internet, I got to
see mere products of the art form in
clothing, decor, and accessories which
didn’t feed my seeking much. Almost
shutting down the Kalamkari tab in my
As lockdown happened, I got thinking
about creativity and wanted to explore
Indian folk art as my expression since I
felt closely connected with it. I got my-
self familiarized with various Indian art
forms and explored dwelling into a few
of them. I wanted to share my insight
into the beautiful Kalamkari.
Sri Kalahastiswara form of Shiva wor-
shipped in the state of Andhra is shown
to have a river that originated from its
dreadlocks which is the manifestation

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point of Kalamkari. Southern India has 5
Shiva temples representing 5 elements
of nature and the said Temple is associ-
ated with the Air (Vayu) element.
Our holy land of India is rich in cultural
heritage and tradition. There are epics,
tales in mythology and profound nar-
rative in religious texts telling stories
about the most beloved Gods of people.
Way back in the 13th century, devotees
who visited the temples would wonder
about their Deities and wanted to know
more about their places of worship and
legends associated with it. However,
they weren’t familiar with scriptures or
couldn’t access or read them. The ar-
tisans of that time then came up with a
grand solution to this by illustrating the
stories on fabric and started hanging it
on the temple walls.
Many stories of Shiva and Vishnu Pu-
rana, Ramayana - Mahabharata were
hence drawn on fabric and hung up
to be looked at and admired by peo-
ple who felt deeply connected watch-
ing their favourite Deities on cloth. The
history and Indian philosophy this way
was now connected to the common
man who could then experience the
solace of knowing and could connect
with their ‘Ishta Devata’ in ways more
than one. Entire scenes from the Pu-
ranas were depicted on fabrics, and
people could relate with them up close
and personal, and this is how Vratpani
(painting with pen), the original name of
Kalamkari, was coined.
The illustrations, which were limited to
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just temples till now, later got support
of the ruling kings i.e. ‘Rajashraya’. The
Mughal invasion over India facilitat-
ed this art form into its other evolved
styles of Block Printing of the village of
Machilipatnam where generations of
artisans practiced it. Keeping the rest
of the process the same, intricately
carved wooden blocks are used to print
on the cloth in this style. Machalipat-
tanam style involves inclusion of Tree
of Life and Animal motifs in its painting.
The Mughals then renamed Vratpani as
Kalamkari.
Process:
Cotton fabric is dipped in a solution of
cow dung and bleach for hours to give
its signature off white colour. Next it is
dipped in a mixture of Buffalo milk and
Myrobalans (a plant of medicinal origin
in the family of Haritaki) which avoids
dye smudging in the fabric.
After rinsing in running water several
times to get rid of odours, it dried in
the sun. Once this fabric is ready for
painting, the artists sketch motifs and
designs over it.
Kalamkars use twigs of the Tamarind
tree as a pen and tie a piece of waste
cloth around it to hold the ink as they
paint.
There are 5 main colours used extracted
from natural resources like Black made
by blending jaggery water and iron pits
which is used for outline sketching, Yel-
low derived by boiling pomegranate
peels, Red from Madder bark, Blue from
Indigo and Green by mixing yellow and
blue together.
In today’s era, this art form has gained
international popularity in the form of
Murals, clothing and artefacts used for
decor. Today, Kalamkari has gained in-
ternational popularity in the form of mu-
rals, clothing, and artifacts used for de-
cor. Kalamkari fabrics are used to create
stunning garments like sarees, kurtas,
dupattas, and even western wear like
dresses, skirts, and tops. The traditional
motifs and designs have been adapted
to create modern and trendy prints that
are popular among fashion enthusiasts
all over the world. Kalamkari murals
can be seen in hotels, restaurants, and
homes as a statement piece of decor.
One of the unique aspects of Kalamka-
ri is that it is a completely eco-friend-
ly art form. The use of natural dyes
and organic materials like cow dung
and buffalo milk make it sustainable
and eco-friendly. Moreover, the use of
hand-drawn motifs and designs gives
each piece a unique character and
charm that cannot be replicated by ma-
chines.
Kalamkari is not just an art form but
a way of life for the people of Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana, where it origi-
nated. It is a representation of their rich
cultural heritage and traditions. Kalam-
kari has now become a part of the glob-
al art scene and is appreciated by art
lovers all over the world. It is an art form
that has stood the test of time and has
remained relevant even in today’s world.
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