- On September 18, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan unveiled a massive 108-feet-tall statue of eighth-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya in Mandhata town (also known as Omkareshwar) in Khandwa district, about 80 km from Indore.
- This event has been named ‘Ekatmata Ki Pratima’ or ‘Statue of Oneness’.
- This statue is located on Mandhata mountain near the holy Omkareshwar temple, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva.
- Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan mooted the idea of this statue during his visit to Omkareshwar in January 2017.
Tribute to Adi Shankaracharya
- The statue is a tribute to Adi Shankaracharya, an eminent philosopher who visited Omkareshwar at the age of 12 to attain enlightenment on Advaita Vedanta philosophy.
- Adi Shankaracharya spent four years in Omkareshwar studying this philosophy before embarking on a journey to preach Advaita Vedanta across the country.
Sculpture
- The statue depicts Adi Shankaracharya at the age of 12, the age at which he visited Omkareshwar.
- No photographs or paintings of him existed at the time, so a painter was chosen to create an image based on various ancient literary sources.
- Then the statue was conceptualized and constructed on the basis of this painting.