Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Sri Sankara Matam.

Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham is a Hindu monastic institution located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, one of the five pancha-bhUta-sthalas (Temples denoting the '5 Elements'). The five pancha-bhUta-sthalas or material sites represent earth (Kanchipuram), sky (Chidambaram), air (Kalahasti), fire (Thiruvannamalai), and water (Thiruvanaikoil). It is known formally as Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, and is claimed to be founded by the Adi Sankara The head of the matha is referred to as a "Sankaracharya", a title that is also applied to the heads of the four Adi Sankara mathas.

The Kanchi matha has been gaining prominence since the 18th century, when it was at Kumbakonam. Today it is one of the most important religious institutions of SouthIndia.

The matha is claimed to be founded by Adi Sankara of Kaladi, and that Jayendra Saraswati Swami is the current pontiff - The 69th head in succession, tracing its history back to the fifth century BCE. Sri Adi Sankara came to Kanchipuram, and that he established the Kanchi matha named "Dakshina Moolamnaya Sarvagnya Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam" in a position of supremacy (Sarvagnya Peetha) over the other mathas of the subcontinent, before his attaining samadhi there. The Kamakoti Peetam however, traditionally refers to Kamakshi referred popularly as Kamakodi. 'Kamakodi' is of Tamil origin, referring to Goddess Durga. 'Kodi' refers to Durga in the ancient Tamil Sangam literature. Kanchipuram is referred to as Kachi. The Vyakarana Mahabhashya of Patanjali uses the word 'Kanchi' and it can be thus understood that the word Kanchi also has a Sanskrit base.