When my parents got transferred to Delhi, I was asked to stay with my Grand parents who happened to be in Kalady , a small village on the banks of Periyar around 30 kms from Ernakulam.
Apart being the place which boosted to have given some schooling to me , Kalady also happened to be the birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya. My Thatha was the headmaster in the Ramakrishna Mutt school and I studied fro class 4 to class 7 in this school.
Life was very nice ans adventurous, not like the present day rush for tutions etc.
My Patti used to go for her bath at 4.30 AM and comeback around 5.30 ,wake me and my thatha . It was now our turn to go to the river and bathe. Swimming in the river and playing with your friends automatically cleansed you both physically and mentally .Evenings also used to be spent in the river along with your friends.
With all this background I wanted to take Uma and visit the place.
So we left from Palakkad and drove to the temples of Adi Shankara, Sharadambal and Lord Krishna and proceeded to the Mutt school. When we were leaving Kalady during my Thatha's time there used to be big photo of my thatha in the school lab. i out of curiosity wanted to know whether the photo was there even now. So we went to the office of the school and started enquiries . All the staff were youngsters and we not in a position to tell me whether the photo was there, but they confirmed that the lab is not there. While we were talking about this a gentleman claiming to be the manager of the school walked in.
I asked : Sir are you aware whether there is a photo of Sri A Subramania Iyer anywhere in the school
The gentleman whose name was Chandru: Who are you and are you aware that there was a grannd son of Subramania Iyer named Raju.
And when I said that I was that Raju he said that he had studied with me in that school. IT was really wonderful to meet your old classmates. We chatted for some time regarding our teachers and left.
Earler while we were praying in the Sri Krishana temple we came to know that the temple is celebrating Kanakadhara Ulsavem somewhere in May 2010. This temple is the Kuladeivam of Adi Shankara. So we decided to visit the temple again for participate in the function. We found out that Sringeri Swamiji was also going to be present for the function.
History
This village was earlier called Sasalam. "Kalady" in Malayalam means footprints.
Legend holds that one day, the widowed mother of Little Sankara, Aryadevi, fainted after walking three kilometers for her daily bath in the Periyar river. Feeling helpless, Little Sankara prayed to Lord Krishna. The tears of the child moved Krishna, who blessed him thus: "the river will flow where your little feet marks (കാലടി വരയുന്നിട്ത്തു നദി ഗതി ആവും). The Periyaar river took its new course in the place marked by the little boy's feet. That place came to be called Kalady.
The Periyaar river began flowing through Little Sankara's home garden. Sankara then installed Lord Krishna into the present temple, and marked the occasion by reciting his famous Ätchutha Ashtakam.
Thus 'Kalady' signifies the love of an innocent child for his beloved mother and the blessings of Lord Krishna
Birth
Shankara's parents were childless for many years, and prayed at the Vadakkumnathan (vRashAcala) temple in Thrissur, Kerala, for the birth of a child. Legend has it that Shiva appeared to both husband and wife in their dreams, and offered them a choice: a mediocre son who would live a long life, or an extraordinary son who would not live long. Both Shivaguru and Aryamba chose the latter. The son was named Shankara, in honour of Shiva.
Formal education
Shivaguru died while Shankara was very young. The child showed remarkable scholarship, and is said to have mastered the four Vedas by the age of eight. Following the common practice of that era, Shankara lived and studied at the home of his teacher. It was customary for students and men of learning to receive Bhiksha or alms from the laity; on one occasion, while accepting Bhiksha, Shankara came upon a woman who had nothing to eat in her house except a single dried amlaka fruit. Rather than consume this last bit of food herself, the pious lady gave away the fruit to Sankara as Bhiksha. Moved by her piety, Shankara composed the Kanakadhara Stotram on the spot. Legend has it that on completion of the stotram, golden amlaka fruits were showered upon the woman by the goddess Lakshmi.
With all these background Uma and me decided to go to Kalady on the Akshaya trithiya day. As usual we left early in the morning and we were IN kalady by 9'0'clock. After praying in the temples we went to the Krishna temple and wanted to buy one golden Amaka which is given that Day to devotees , This day it so happened that Sringeri Shanakaracharya was there and he did the puja on these amalakas nand we got one of them .After giving some money for annadanam in this temple we returned.
All in all a very pleasant Trip
