Shri AdiSankara had many disciples and prominent among them were
Sureshwaracharya, Padmapadacharya,Hastamala, Thotakacharya. These disciples
were giants in their own stead but drew strength from the guidance of their
guru and travelled with Adishankara . At appropriate times they were
given charge of his various mutts established by him and contiinued the legacy.
I recently came to know from the Kanchi mutt that the samadhis of Padmapada and
Thotakacharya are also in kanchi where they came on hearing that their
guru had left his earthly form wished to be interned near his samadhi (as per
Kanchi mutt belief and records) . We can find the Adhishtanam of Sri
Sureshwaracharya inside the Kanchi mutt( click to see my blog on this acharya)
Shri Padmapadacharya
Sri Sankara went to Kasi and by that time, he had a
lot of disciples. One of them, Sanandhyaya, was drying the clothes of his Guru
and suddenly Sri Sankara called him to the other bank of the river as he needed
the clothes urgently. Sanandhyaya, little realising that he would drown, starts
walking into the river. However, the Grace of his Guru resulted in a lotus
materialising wherever he was keeping his foot. When asked as to how did he
cross the river, he says that when his Guru calls, he is not to worry about
anything. Sri Sankara named him as Padma Padar (lotus feet).
( above from Kamakoti.org Kanchi mutt website)
Padmapada was the first head
of Puri Govardhana matha. He is believed to have founded a math by
name Thekke Matham in Thrissur, Kerala. Keralites
believe that he was a Nambuthiri belonging to Vemannillom, though according to
textual sources he was from the Chola region in South India.
Padmapāda, together
with Sureśvara, developed ideas that led to the founding of the Vivarana school
of commentators. The only surviving work of Padmapāda known to be authentic is
the Pañcapādikā. According to tradition, this was written in
response to Shankara's request for a commentary on his own Brahmasūtrabhāsya,
and once written was destroyed by a jealous uncle. The surviving text is
supposed to be what Shankara could recall of the commentary; certainly, all
that survives of the work is an extended gloss on the first
four aphorisms.
(above detail from wikipedia)
Padmapadacharya's Guru bhakti was exemplary.
Once he came to know of his Guru's samadhi in Kanchipuram,
he too rushed back to Kanchipuram and took samadhi at Ekambareshwar
temple.
The samadhi temple is known as "Vishnu-eswarar"
and just outside the south gopuram of
the Ekambareshwar temple, Kanchipuram..
(As received from a trusted source)
