Walking bare feet in the palatial Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, 125-year-old Swami Sivananda received a standing ovation at the time of receiving the Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind.
Before receiving the award, the yoga guru prostrated before PM Narendra Modi and President Kovind, receiving another round of applause from the guest at the civil investiture ceremony.
Returning the greeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promptly bowed and touched the ground.
Before reaching the dais, the yoga practitioner, dressed in white kurta and dhoti, knelt twice again, and the President stepped out and helped him rise to his feet, after that he handed over the award and citation.
while presenting the award, the President was seen talking to Swami Sivananda as the two posed for pictures.
His simplest ways of disciplined and well-regulated life with early morning Yoga, oil-free and boiled diet, and selfless service to mankind in his own way have given him tension-free and disease-free longest life.
Swami Sivananda was born on 8th August 1896 in Sylhet district (now in Bangladesh) of undivided India. He lost his parents at the age of 6 years and due to abject poverty, his beggar parents could feed him mainly boiled rice water during his childhood days.
After the funeral rites, he was brought to his Guruji’s Ashram at Nabadwip, West Bengal. Guru Omkarananda Goswami brought him up, imparted all spiritual and practical education including Yoga.
Swami has been a positive thinker throughout his life. His belief has been – ‘The world is my home, its people are my fathers and mothers, to love and serve them is my religion’.
For the last 50 years, Swami Sivananda has been serving 400 to 600 leprosy-affected beggars with dignity by personally meeting them.
Swami Sivananda has been honored with various awards including the Yoga Ratna Award in the year 2019 at Bengaluru.
He was the senior-most participant from the country at the Yoga demonstration on 21st July, the World Yoga Day in 2019.
Swami Sivananda was awarded Basundhara Ratan Award by Respect Age International for his contribution to society on 30th November 2019.
