125-year-old yoga guru from Kashi, Swami Sivananda, received the Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind for his contribution to the field of Yoga. After the announcement of his name, Swami Sivanand bowed down in front of the President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who himself is a health freak has lauded yoga guru Swami Sivananda. Sharing a video of the yoga guru from the prestigious ceremony, Akshay wrote,“He is 126 years old! And such good health. This video has made me so happy."
Watch the video here
Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. 'Padma Shri' for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
Apart from Swami Sivananda, para-shooter Avani Lekhara, Paralympic silver medalist Devendra Jhajharia, and Hockey player Vandana Katariya received the Padma Shri Award in the Sports category. Sachidanand Swami received the Padma Bhushan Award for his work in Literature and Education. Indian director Chandraprakash Dwivedi received the Padma Shri award for his work in Cinema. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too received the Padma Bhushan award in the field of Public Affairs.
This year the President has approved the conferment of 128 Padma Awards.
