Introduction about Allepey-Alapuzha
Kalady is located on the right of river Periyar in the Ernakulam district of Kerala and is a tiny village in the midst of green fields. Kalady is a very popular pilgrimage center since it was the birth place of Sri Adi Sankara. He was the first Indian saint who preached the Advaita or monastic philosophy. In the local language of Malayalam, Kalady means “feet”and initially, this place was known as “Sasalam”. Adi Sankara was the only son son of Sivaguru and Aryamba and his shrine at Kalady is run by the Sringeri Math, it is a huge open structure situated on the right bank of river Periyar. It encompasses two shrines one of which is dedicated to Sankaracharya himself while the other is dedicated to the main deity of Sringeri, goddess Saradamba. Moreover the Samadhi of Sankaracharya's mother is also placed here in Kalady. In the evening, the usual scene is of chanting prayers in front of the shrine of god Ganapati and these prayers are generally conducted by the local Tamil Brahmins.

Quite near to the the Sri Krishna temple is the Ramakrishna Advaita Ashram which holds a spacious prayer hall and a shrine designed on the model of Ramakrishna temple at Belur Math. Besides, the Ashram also operates a school, a dispensary and a library. Further from the Ramakrishna temple is the memorial, Adi Sankara Keerthi Sthambam which was built by Kamakoti Mutt. Two elephant statues guard the entrance of the memorial and leads to Paduka Mandapam which essentially represents the wooden sandals of the teacher. Apart from the paintings that narrate the story of Sankaracharya, the memorial consists of gigantic statues of lord Ganapati and Sankaracharya. These shrines in Kalady are open to all the tourists and visitors regardless of caste or religion.

There are various temples that are associated with the life and legends of Sri Sankaracharya. Some of these temples are the Sri Krishna Temple, Manickamangalam Karathyayani Temple, Mattoor Thiru Vellaman Thulli Siva Temple, Nayathodu Sankara Narayan Temple and Manjapra Karppilli Kavu Siva Temple. Moreover there are other places of tourist attractions like the Aryadevi Samadhi Mandapam, Kalady Kadavu Ghat, Crocodile Ghat and Ghat of post-funeral rites of mother Aryadevi. If you decide to visit these places, the Cochin International Airport is just 10 km away from Kalady. Kalady is very well connected with important towns in Kerala by way of public transport system and can be easily accessed by railway, airport or buses.