Swami Sivananda, a 125-year-old yoga practitioner, was honoured with the Padma Shri award on Monday for his contributions to the discipline of yoga. Sivananda is said to be the country’s oldest Padma award recipient.
Sivananda, who the government claims is 125 years old and hails from Uttar Pradesh, is perhaps the country’s oldest Padma award laureate, and is described as a “Yog Sevak” who, despite his modest beginnings, continues to assist others around him. For over three decades, he has been practising and teaching yoga at Kashi’s ghats.
On Monday, a total of 128 Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri awards were awarded. Padma Shri awards accounted for 108 of these.
Swami Sivananda was born on the 8th of August, 1896, according to his passport. This man is one of only a handful hundred-year-olds who have survived through the last three centuries.
He had lost both of his parents at a young age, and his family had handed him to a spiritual guru. Swami Sivananda accompanied his master on a tour of India, which ended with them settling in Varanasi, India’s holiest city. He grew up in abject poverty and eventually chose to live a strict celibacy life.
His strict disciplinary life and passion for yoga have shaped him into the man he is now, and he is still standing strong and fit. The man still sleeps on a mattress on the floor with a wooden slab serving as a headrest. Except for how much people have changed throughout the years, the man has nothing to complain about.
