I would like to narrate a historical fact about Kanchipuram Mutt and Paramacharya that was narrated to me by my uncle Pandit Venimadhav Shastri. My uncle is 95 years young with an impeccable memory and comes from a scholarly lineage of Pandits from Varanasi.

His elder brother was the most eminent scholar Pandit Rajeshwar Shastri Dravid who was the son of Dharmapran Mahamohopadhyaya Laxman Shastri Dravid. Pandit Rajeshwar Shastri was awarded Padma Bhushan by the President of India for his contribution to preservation of

Santana Dharma and Indian Philosophy. They are known for their scholarship in Indian Philosophy and in particular the Advaita school of thought and Nyaya philosophy. Pandit Laxman Shastri established Sangved Vidyalaya which was inaugurated by the then

Kashi Naresh Aditya Narayan Singh who was his pupil. Not many are aware that it was Pandit Laxman Shastri along with Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya were responsible for conceptualising Benaras Hindu University(BHU).

Now coming to Kanchipuram Mutt. As old timers might recall that there was a historical controversy about the recognition of this Mutt and there were many sceptics in the early 20’s and 30’s who challenged the legitimacy of this Mutt and argued that Adi Shankaracharya

had established only four Mutts namely Shree Sharda Peetham at Dwarka, Shree Govardhan Peetham at Puri, Shree Jyotish Peetham at Badrinath and Shree Sringeri Peetham at Sringeri.

A powerful group of scholars argued that the Kumbakonam Mutt was a branch of Kanchipuram Mutt and that Kumbakonam Mutt has no relations with Sringeri Mutt. There were also differing views about the location where Adi Sankaracharya took Samadhi.

Many believed that he took Samadhi in Kedarnath but all available evidence points out to the fact that Adi Sankara in fact renounced his body in Kanchipuram. It was no wonder that a powerful section of Tamil pundits did not see Chandrasekhar Sarasvati as

the Paramacharya due to the above mentioned controversies.
It was an age-old practice among scholars and holy men to go to Varanasi and engage in scholarly debates with the established scholars there. This was the way to accept recognition and due legitimacy.

Even Adi Shankaracharya travelled to Kashi and had his famous shastrath (debate) with Mandan Mishra and his wife Ubhaya Bharti. After the debate Mandan Mishra accepted his defeat and became an Advaitin and follower of Adi Sankara.

In the same glorious tradition Paramacharya decided to travel to Kashi by foot at the specific invitation of Pandit Rajeshwar Shastri Dravid, Narayan Shastri Khiste, Kashi Naresh Vibhuti Narayan Singh and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya. Paramaharya accepted the invitation and

started his journey by foot on 24th of January 1934. He reached Kashi via Sri Sailam, Kurnool, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Jabalpur, and Prayag on 16th September 1934. During his visit to Kashi he addressed several gatherings,

but the finale was the Mahasabha organised by Sangveda Vidyalaya, Kashi Naresh and Pandit Rajeshwar Shastri Dravid. The date was 9th March 1935. Among the attendees were all the well- known Pundits of Kashi notable among them were Sarvashree Panchanana Tarkaratna Bhattacharya,

Harihara Krupalu Giridhara Sharma, Trilinga Lakshmana Shastri, Brahmadanada Tarkabhushana Dhurga Saran, Sankya Vedantateertha Mukud Jha Bhaksh, Punditaraja Chandi Prasad Shukla, Balakrishna Mishra, Ramayashas Tripathi, Vamasaran Bhattacharya, and Pattapalli Jeevanyaya Theerth.

The declaration that Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham was one of the important Peethams of Adi Shankaracharya was handed over to Paramacharya. In addition, another declaration from the Bengal scholars was also presented to Paramacharya.

The declaration specifically mentioned that Kanchi Peetham was installed by Adi Sankaracharya and he was the first Acharya of the Peetham. This declaration provided complete legitimacy to Kanchipuram Peetham and that point onwards all the controversy about the mutt evaporated.

Paramacharya was 39 years of age when this event happened.
It was during this visit of Paramacharya another noteworthy event occurred. Kashi Naresh had no issues and he wanted to adopt a boy from his wife’s side which was somehow not accepted by the protocol.

Paramacharya intervened and provided the rationale and that is how the adoption took place.

@kumar856 @shreikanth @anavrittim @KumarSarangapa1 @ungalnanbar @Easwar_Uvaca @MuraliAthreya @BesuraTaansane

this was narrated by very learned scholar on Facebook

I would like to thank Shri dravid sir his post on Facebook
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1571506426370755&id=100005342375870