Among the very few philosopher, mystic, poet, devotee and religious reformer that India has so far, the name of Jagatguru Adi Shankaracharya is definitely one of the most prominent and important ones. He was born in the village of Kaladi in the state of Kerala in 788 and he was the only son of a spiritual Nambudini Brahami couple, named Sivaguru and Aryamba. There is a strong belief among the followers and descendants of Shankaracharya that he was born as a result of the long prayers of his parents to Lord Shiva.

Shankaracharya was a real wonder during his childhood, as he completed his Vedic studies by the age of only eight years. He was always considered as an infant prodigy and his mother brought him up with loving care, after his father died, he was still at a very young age. After completing his Vedic studies and also getting a lot of lessons regarding the ancient Hindu philosophies, Shankar decided to move further in seeking the divine power and he exhibited ascetic tendencies and asked permission of his mother to enter the ashrama of Sanyasa.

Though not full heartedly, the mother of Shankaracharya gave him the permission to enter the ashrama of Sanyasa and after getting the permission, Shankara met Govinda Bhagavatpada and became his disciple. He took further lessons of Vedantic studies and completed his Sadhana, under the guidance of Govinda Bhagavatpada and then he proceeded to Varanasi for spreading the message of Advaita Vedanta. He traveled all over India with the intention to spread his thoughts and the message of Advaita Vedanta and thus established himself as a great protagonist of the Vedanta philosophy. Shankara also established Maths in a number of four places in India and his holy soul left the earthly abode in the year of 820 A.D. His main credit was that he elaborated the Advaita Vedanta Philosophy, that is the core of the Vedas.