Shri Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda receives a Padma Shri award for yoga from President Kovind. He has spent the past 50 years in Puri helping those affected by leprosy as part of a lifelong commitment to human welfare. His 1896 birth and long life have caught the interest of both national and international organizations.
Who is Swami Sivananda?
Swami Sivananda, who was born on August 8, 1896, in Sylhet, an undivided Indian region that is now in Bangladesh, lost both of his parents when he was six years old. During his early years, his beggar parents could only feed him boiled rice and water due to their great poverty.
After his parents died, he was brought to his Guruji’s ashram in Nabadwip, West Bengal. Guru Omkarananda Goswami raised him without the benefit of formal education and instructed him in all facets of practical and spiritual education, including yoga.
According to the Rashtrapati Bhavan paper on Padma Awards, he has been helping the impoverished in several areas of the country, including North East India, Varanasi, Puri, Haridwar, Nabadwip, and so on.
Swami Sivananda has been seeing 400–600 leprosy-affected beggars at their hutments in Puri for the past 50 years to provide them with dignity. According to legend, Sivananda arranges various supplies, including food, fruit, clothing, winter clothing, blankets, mosquito nets, and cooking utensils, according to the needs of the population.
The world has taken notice of Swami Sivananda’s long life and health, as well as his dedication to encouraging his fellow citizens to get their covid shots after he did so himself at the age of 125.