Adi Shankaracharya Temple, Kalady, Kerela
Shankaracharya was a great Hindu philosopher and a great revivalist of Hindu religion. He used to profess the Advaita Vedanta linage of Hinduism. Shankaracharya was born in 788 at Kalady in the then Chera empire. Kalady is around 48 km from Cochin in the Ernakulam district of present day Kerala. Here in his memory Adi Shankaracharya Temple (Sri Adi Sankara Keerthi Sthamba Mandapam) was built. I was told the construction of this temple was started in the 1970s and was completed in the 1990s.
Timings: Morning to evening
Entry: Rs 2 per person
The temple is a eight story tower depicting the life, teachings and travel of Adi Shankara. From the top one can see a bird eye view of Kalady and the road leading to Cochin. At one of the windows I saw a big bee hive. The temple is open to people of all caste and religion. The temple has put on display all the places visited by Adi Shankara and all the acharayas of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. It is a very good place to learn about Adi Shankaracharaya.
In kalady there are many other places to see like Crocodile Ghat on river periyar where Adi Shankara got permission from his mother to be a monk, Ramakrishna Advaita Ashram, Krishna temple etc. Adi Shankaracharya was probably the biggest preacher for Hinduism in a long time.
Website: http://www.kamakoti.org/
Learn more at:
http://www.sankaracharya.org/
http://www.sringeri.net/branches/kerala/kalady