Ernakulam (Kerala) [India], Dec 29 (NT): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is in Kerala for a two-day visit, said on Friday that Adi Sankaracharya had united India ethnically.

Whereas he was addressing news talks at the Sri Adi Sankara's Paduka mandapam here, CM Chouhan put light on efforts made by  Adi Sankaracharya and said that "Adi Sankaracharya has made the efforts to unify India culturally. The solution to all the issues prevailing around the world can be found in Sankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta." , as quoted by ANI.

"Kalady in Kerala is Sankaracharya's birthplace but he had spent a part of his life in Omkareshwar on the banks of river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh,” further said CM Chouhan.

The day before, CM Chouhan flagged off a drive from Adi Sankara Nilayam in Veliyanad village to accumulate soil for a 108-foot statue of Adi Shankaracharya, which draws closer up at Omkareshwar on the banks of River Narmada.

This drive is the step towards of Ektam Yatra, which was flagged off by CM Chouhan from a number of cities in Madhya Pradesh on December 19 and will bring to a wind up at Omkareshwar on January 22.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also take part to lay the foundation stone for the statue at Omkareshwar on January 22.(NT)