Video: 125-Yr-Old Swami Conferred With Padma Shri

The prestigious awards event of Padma Shri was lit with 125-year-old Swami Sivananda’s presence, who walked barefoot in the palatial Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Swami received a standing ovation when he received the Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday.

The highlight of the event was when Swami, the yoga practitioner, prostrated before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President, before receiving the award. Prime Minister Modi returned the greeting by promptly bowing and touching the ground.

The yoga guru is clad in white kurta and dhoti and he knelt twice again before going on the dias. One can see how the President helped Sivananda rise to his feet followed by presenting the award and the citation. Several famous personalities including VVS Laxman, Anand Mahindra, and Union Law Minister shared the video on Twitter.

Swami Sivananda has dedicated his life to the welfare of human society. His lifestyle is very simple and inspiring with early morning Yoga, an oil-free boiled food diet and selfless service to mankind. He said he is disease-free and depression-free at the age of 125. Born on 8 August 1896 in Sylhet district, Swami Sivananda lost his mother and father at the age of six.

Soon after, he decided to become a monk. He said he owed his age to ”yoga, discipline and celibacy”. For the last 50 years, Swami Sivananda has been serving 400-600 leprosy-affected beggars with dignity at Puri by personally meeting them at their huts. Swami has been honoured with various awards including the Yoga Ratna Award in 2019 at Bengaluru and Basundhara Ratan Award by Respect Age International for his contribution to society on 30 November 2019.