Padmapadacharya

Padmapadacharya was an Indian philosopher, a follower of Adi Shankara.thumb|Burial place of Padmapadacharya

Padmapāda's dates are unknown, but some modern scholarship places his life around the middle of the 8th century; similarly, information about him comes mainly from hagiographies. What is known for certain is that he was a direct disciple of Shankara, of whom he was a younger contemporary. Padmapada was the first head of Puri Govardhana matha. He is believed to have founded a math by the 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 (present-day Tamil Nadu).