125-Yr-Old Swami Sivananda Awarded The Padma Shri For His Contributions To Yoga
Update: 2022-03-22 15:00 IST
President Ram Nath Kovind honoured Swami Sivananda
President Ram Nath Kovind honoured Swami Sivananda, a 125-year-old yoga master from Kashi, with the Padma Shri award for his contributions to the field of yoga on Monday, March 21. He was dressed in a white dhoti kurta while receiving the award. PM Modi rose from his seat and prostrated himself before Swami Sivananda.
President stepped out before reaching the dais and assisted Sivananda in rising to his feet, after which he gave the prize and citation.
Sivananda has lived a disease-free and tension-free life because to his basic lifestyle of early morning Yoga, an oil-free boiled food, and selfless service to humanity in his own unique way. Rather than preaching, he uses his own life as a moral example.
The veteran yoga hero was born on August 8, 1896, in the Sylhet area (now Bangladesh), and lost his parents when he was barely six years old. His childhood was survived in extreme poverty and his parents begged to feed him boiled rice water as a child due to their poverty.
He was taken to his Guruji's Ashram in Nabadwip, West Bengal, after their final rites. Without formal education, Guru Omkarananda Goswami nurtured him and provided him with all practical and spiritual knowledge, including Yoga.
During the past 50 years, the yoga instructor has met with hundreds of leprosy-affected beggars at their hutments in Puri, treating them with respect.
He encourages others to donate various products to the impacted folks in order for them to experience the joy of giving. They are later inspired to conduct similar humanitarian efforts in their own vocations.
Swami Sivananda's long and healthy life has drew attention from all over the world, especially his devotion to encouraging fellow residents to get COVID vaccines after he was stabbed at the age of 65.
Meanwhile, Swami Sivananda has received numerous prizes in the past, including the Yoga Ratna Award in Bengaluru in 2019.On June 21, 2019, World Yoga Day, he was the senior-most individual from India at a yoga demonstration.