Thread by @Hiranyareta

Trad Bhai Log, Yahan Se shuru karo ye fifth Shankaracharya ki mystery janane ke liye.
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Kanchi Kamakoti Math - A Myth
archive.org/details/Kanchi…

There is another one. It was removed from Archive.org withing 3 days of me tweeting some screenshots from it.

Agar chahiye to main Google Doc link share kar doonga.

"Truth About Kumbakonam Mutt"
by
Krishnaswamy Aiyer R., Venkatraman K. R.
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Sorry, ek aur hai. Read these three books to unravel the mystery of fifth Shankarachara peeth of Kumbhakonam (Kanchi).

"Conflicting hagiographies and history: The place of Śaṅkaravijaya texts in Advaita tradition"
by Vidyasankar Sundaresan
link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Arre Bhai Joker ki to kuch respect hoti hai. hum to Modi Bhajan Mandali wale bhakt hain. Lekin aap log to non-compromising alpha-Trad hain. So demand Kanchi peeth to stop defiling Adi Sankara's tradition and if it doesn't agrees then demand action.

https://twitter.com/crick_maniac/status/1337103449188519936?s=20

This post by Vidyasankar Sundaresan , author of the book mentioned in abv tweet.

"It is generally accepted as tradition that Adi Sankaracharya, the famous Advaita philosopher, founded four maths (monasteries) at Sringeri, Puri, Dwaraka and Badrinath;
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None of the four recognized mathas claims jurisdiction over the other three. However, the Kanchi math claims that Sankaracharya established a fifth math in Kanchi, with jurisdiction over the recognized four mathas;
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that Sankaracharya ascended a sarvagna-pitha not in Kashmir, but at Kanchi, and that he passed away not in Kedarnath, but at Kanchi.
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These and other such claims have been widely publicized by the followers of the Kanchi math with the direct participation of and encouragement from the heads of the Kanchi math, including the recently departed centenarian Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati (C.S., for short)
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and his successor Sri Jayendra Saraswati (J.S.).

In Tamil, we have a saying "Do not question the origins of rivers (nadimoolam) and rishis (rishimoolam)."
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Still, in terms of answering some basic questions regarding dates in Indian history, one has to perforce look at these. C.S. had a commanding personality. He impressed people of such wide interests as Mahatma Gandhi, Arthur Koestler, Paul Brunton, Milton Singer etc.
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Some of his more ardent followers have gone to the
extent of deifying him as "Nadamadum deivam"-the deity who walks.People compose and sing songs in his praise, and dancers stage dance-dramas on his life-all of which are widely advertised and reviewed in the south Indian press.

However, while some people might respect the recently departed acharya of Kanchi as a rishi or as a deity, there is no reason why a frank discussion cannot be held regarding the origins of the Kanchi math, and C.S.'s involvement in propagating a thoroughly revised history of
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that math - so thoroughly revised as to be almost wholly falsified. I would like to clarify at the outset that no disrespect is meant to the Kanchi math or its heads, but while talking of some aspects of history, one has to call a spade a spade."
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One can read the whole post here. I will just post the summary below.
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advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/alt_hindu…

"To sum up, the claims of the Kanchi math have been unprecedented in the history of Hinduism. We have never had an organized structure comparable to the Roman Catholic Church.
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In the event, a math in the remote south claiming to be the central math of the Advaita sampradaya makes no sense. Firstly, such centralized religious jurisdiction is alien to the spirit and history of our culture.
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Secondly, even if Adi Sankaracharya did establish a central math with jurisdiction over the recognized four, was he so ignorant of India's geography that he bypassed all holy cities with more central locations (Prayag/Kashi/Ujjain?) and chose instead Kanchi in the extreme south?

THUS, THE IDEA OF A CENTRAL MATH IS CLEARLY PURE MYTH. THE REALITY IS THAT THE KANCHI MATH IS A RELATIVELY RECENT INSTITUTION WITH TALL CLAIMS. That it has a large following is an undeniable fact.
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Every saffron-robed person invariably attracts some following. Couple that with the tremendous charisma that C.S. had, and a famous temple like the Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram - one has a ready-made formula for success
in attracting a following.
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The sad part is that the sannyasis involved take advantage of the general reverence that people show them, for their
own ulterior motives. "
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