Shankaracharya, (IAST: Śankarāchārya) is a commonly used title of heads of maţhas (monasteries) in the Advaita tradition. The title derives from Śankara of Kaladi, a theologian of Hinduism, who established four maţhas in the four regions of India. IAST, or International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is the academic standard for writing the Sanskrit language with the Latin alphabet and very similar to National Library at Calcutta romanization standard being used with many Indic scripts. ... A maá¹­ha (also written matha and mutt) is a term for monastic and similar religious establishments of the Hindu religion. ... Advaita Vedanta is probably the best known of all Vedanta schools of Hinduism, the others being Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita. ... Adi Shankara (Malayalam: ആദി ശങ്കരന്‍, DevanāgarÄ«: , , IPA: ); c. ... Hinduism (known as in some modern Indian languages[1]) is a religion that originated on the Indian subcontinent. ... A maá¹­ha (also written matha and mutt) is a term for monastic and similar religious establishments of the Hindu religion. ...

As the first historically recognized teacher in the lineage, Śankara is also called Ādi Śankara (the first Śankara). The four institutions traditionally said to have been established by Ādi Śankara are; Adi Shankara (Malayalam: ആദി ശങ്കരന്‍, DevanāgarÄ«: , , IPA: ); c. ...

• the Uttarāmnāya matha, or northern matha at Joshimath
• the Pūrvāmnāya matha or eastern matha, the Govardhana matha, at Puri
• the Dakshināmnāya matha, or the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, the southern matha, at Shringeri
• the Paśchimāmnāya matha, or the Dwaraka Pitha, the western matha, at Dwarka .

The heads of these four institutions are considered the principal Shankaracharyas in India today. Shree Raghotham Peeta established in Gokarna, (presently, known as Ramachandrapura matha is the oldest of Shankaracharya Peeta's in Karnataka, according to 'Karnataka Purathatva Ilake(Karnataka Arceology Department). Kanchi matha claims that Adi Shankara established it as the Sarvagnya Peetha in a position of supremacy over the other mathas of the subcontinent, before his samadi. However this claim is disputed by the other four Peethams. In addition, the heads of the Sumeru matha in Varanasi, the Karavir matha in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, the Sankarananda matha in Puri, Orissa and other institutions are also referred to as Shankaracharyas. There are more than 100 such Shankaracharyas in India today^{[citation needed]}. Jyotirmath, also called Joshimath is a place in Uttaranchal in the Himalayas. ... The Govardhana matha is located in the city of Puri in Orissa state (India), and is associated with the Jagannath temple. ... Puri is a city in the Indian state of Orissa. ... Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham is one of the important Hindu Advaita maá¹­has. ... Vidyasankara temple Sringeri, located in Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka is the site of the fourth matha established by the Adi Sankaracharya, Hindu reformer and exponent of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, in the 8th century C.E. It is located on the banks of the river Tunga. ... The Dwaraka PÄ«tha or Dwaraka matha is situated in the coastal city of Dwaraka, Gujarat — which itself is a popular destination of pilgrimage for the Hindus, dedicated to Krishna. ... Dwarka   is a city and a municipality in Jamnagar district in the state of Gujarat, India. ... Shree Raghotham Peeta was established in Ashoka, Gokarna, Karnataka State, around 1,300 years ago, by Adi Shankaracharya. ... The Kanchi matha is known formally as Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. ... VārāṇasÄ«   (Hindi: , IPA: ), also known as Benares, Banaras, or Benaras (Hindi: , , IPA: ), or Kashi or Kasi (Hindi: , ), is a famous Hindu holy city situated on the banks of the river Ganges (Ganga) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... Kolhapur   (Marathi:कोल्हापुर) is a city situated in the south west corner of Maharashtra, India. ... , Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र , IPA:  , English: ) is Indias third largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. ...

See also: 1966 anti-cow slaughter agitation. 1966 anti-cow slaughter agitation was the agitation by Hindu organisations in 1966 to demand a ban on the slaughter of cows in India, as enshrined in the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution of India. ...

External Links

Works & Biography of Shankaracharya