Madhya Pradesh CM unveils Adi Shankaracharya statue at Omkareshwar: Its story, significance

Who was Adi Shankaracharya?

Adi Shankara, who is believed to have lived between 788 and 820 AD, was born in Kerela’s Kaladi, situated on the bank of the Periyar River. He became a sanyasin at an early age and left his Brahmin household, where he is said to have made his way to Omkareshwar. Here, he studied under his guru Govinda Bhagavatpada and soon became a proponent of Advaita Vedanta, challenging prevailing philosophical traditions – including Buddhism and Jainism.

The 108-feet-tall statue of Hindu saint Adi Shankaracharya, named ‘Ekatmata Ki Pratima’ (Statue of Oneness), during its unveiling ceremony, at Omkareshwar in Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh. (PTI Photo)

In his lifespan of 32 years, he is said to have visited all the important spiritual centres of the time — from Kanchi (Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu) to Kamrup (Assam), and Kashmir and the Kedar and Badri dhams, as well as Sringeri, Ujjain, Kashi, Puri, and Joshimath.

He is said to have authored 116 works. The most notable among them are the commentaries on the 10 Upanishads, the Brahmasutra and the Gita.

Why is the Mandhata island considered an important religious destination?

The Mandhata island, nestled on the Narmada River, is home to two of the 12 Jyotirlingas – Omkareshwara (located on the south side of the island) and Amareshwara. The area is close to Mahakaleshwara Jyotirlinga at Ujjain, located 110 km to the northwest.

The island is dotted with Shaivite, Vaisnavite, and Jain temples dating back to the 14th and 18th centuries. The name ‘Omkareshwar’ is derived from the shape of the island, which resembles the sacred syllable ‘Om’, and its name means ‘the Lord of Omkara’.

Puranas say that Lord Shiva pierced the world as an endless pillar of light, called the jyotirlinga. There are 12 jyotirlinga sites in India that are considered a manifestation of Shiva. Besides Mahakal in Ujjain, these include Somnath and Nageshwar in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna in Andhra Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Bhimashankar, Triyambakeshwar and Grishneshwar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi, Baidyanath in Jharkhand, and Rameshwar in Tamil Nadu.

As far as the Jyotirlinga sites in Mandhata are concerned, there are three stories on its origin.

According to the first legend, the deity of the Vindhya mountain range, Vindya, worshipped Lord Shiva in order to atone for his sins. Impressed with this feat, Shiva manifested himself in the forms of Omkareshwara and Amareshwara.

In the second story, King Mandhata performed such devoted worship that Shiva manifested as a Jyotirlinga and in the third tale, the danavas (demons) emerged victorious against the Devas (gods) and Shiva manifested as the Omkareshwar jyotirlinga to defeat the demons.

How was the project conceptualised?

On February 9, 2017, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the construction of a 108-foot-tall Adi Shankaracharya statue, a Shankar museum, and the Acharya Shankar International Institute of Advaita Vedanta, during a function in Omkareshwar.

Later that year, a metal collection drive was conducted in the state and the metal for building the statue was collected from people across more than 23,000 grama panchayats.

On June 4, 2022, Larsen and Toubro was awarded an Engineering Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract to
construct the Statue of Oneness. The Statue of Oneness is intended to endure for more than 500 years, while the museum building is designed to have a service life of 100 years.

What went into making the 108 ft statue?

The multi-metal Adi Shankaracharya statue is installed atop Mandhata Parvat hill, facing southwards towards the Narmada river. This statue stands atop a 54-feet pedestal, supported by a 27-feet lotus petal base which is made of red stone.

Weighing 100 tons, the statue was conceptualised by an Indian team of artists, sculptors and engineers, while the metal casting was done in China’s Nanchang city and shipped to Mumbai through the sea route in several batches. The idol weighs 100 tons and has been installed on a 75-foot-high platform. It is made up of bronze that contains 88% copper, 4% zinc and 8% tin and its internal structure is made up of high-quality steel, officials said.

At the base of the statue is the Shankar Stambh, which features wooden domes and stone pillars with “carvings depicting 32 stories related to Acharya Shankar.”

The 108-foot tall Adi Shankaracharya statue before its unveiling, in Omkareshwar, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. (PTI Photo)

It is expected to join the ranks of India’s most renowned statues, including the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, the Thiruvalluvar Statue and Lord Murugan Statue in Tamil Nadu, the Gommateshwara Statue in Karnataka and the Shiva statue of Murudeshwara in Karnataka.

Award-winning painter Vasudeo Kamath, a graduate of the J. J. School of Art in Mumbai, created the conceptual sketch and painting of the statue.

Kamath visited Shankaracharya’s birthplace in Kerala’s Kaladi, where he “studied their clothing style of men during that era, the rivers, the homes, their architectural design” as inspiration for his sketch work and paintings, and also studied the faces of “11-12-year-old boys from Kerala” before finalising his concept art for the statue. It was greenlit in 2018.

Award-winning Sculptor and fellow JJ School alumnus Bhagwan Rampure also worked closely with Kamath from his home in Mumbai for around six months. He was selected from a list of 20 sculptors. Rampure first made a 3.5 ft model and consulted with a range of saints, artists and engineers before proceeding to make an 11 ft-tall sculpture. After the designs were finalised, he visited Nanchang City for the metal casting work and supervised 100 Chinese workers for this project. It took another six months for the project to be completed.

What are the other projects?

The statue will be accompanied by Ekatma Dham, which will include the Advaita Lok museum, built to “showcase the life and philosophy of Acharya Shankar through exhibits reflecting the message of Advaita Vedanta,” said a project official.

The Ekatma Dham will feature a mosaic of architectural styles, including “Nagara, Dravidian, Oriya, Maru-Gurjara, Hoysala, North Indian-Himalayan, and Kerala” styles. The museum will include a “3D hologram projection gallery,
nine exhibition galleries, an indoor wide-screen IMAX theatre, and a cultural boat ride called Advaita Narmada Vihar, which will take visitors on an audio-visual journey through the teachings of Acharya Shankar and other Indian preceptors of Advaita”, officials said.

The Acharya Shankar International Institute of Advaita Vedanta is being built to “promote the study and understanding of Advaita Vedanta” and will be spread across 22.1 hectares. The institute will have seven centres — four for research, a library, an extension centre, and a gurukul.

The research centres include the Centres for Advaita Philosophy, which will feature the “ornate distinctive style of Oriya temples”, the Centre for Science will be built on the lines of the Dwaraka temple in Gujarat, the Social Science Centre will be built on the lines of “Hoysala and Dravidian styles” and the centre for Literature, Music and Arts will be built in “North Indian-Himalayan style.”

The Maharshi Vedavyasa Advaita Library will be a “comprehensive resource centre and reference library for scholars working in fields related to Advaita Vedanta philosophy.” A 36-hectare forest has also been envisioned for visitors seeking a place of meditation.