The Sankaracharya temple is visible from many miles at the summit of the Takht-i-Sulaiman hill near Srinagar. The octagonal plinth to the temple may have been started at the time of Asoka 220 BC, but has been repaired numerous times. The vertical wall on the east (left) side of entrance stairway and corridor, contains several misaligned stones that have been shifted since the staircase was constructed, presumably by earthquake shaking in 1885 and possibly earlier.