President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi upon the announcement of his name. The President authorized the conferral of 128 Padma Awards this year.
The Padma Awards, one of the country’s highest civilian honors, are presented in three categories: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. The Awards are granted in a variety of disciplines/fields of activity, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, commerce and industry, medical, literature and education, sports, civil service and others. Each year, the winners of the awards are announced on Republic Day.
In addition to Swami Sivananda, the Padma Shri Award in the Sports category was presented to para-shooter Avani Lekhara, Paralympic silver medallist Devendra Jhajharia, and hockey player Vandana Katariya. Sachidanand Swami was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan Award for his literary and educational contributions. Chandraprakash Dwivedi, an Indian director, was awarded the Padma Shri for his contributions to cinema. Ghulam Nabi Azad, a senior Congress politician, was also a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award in the subject of Public Affairs.
In response to the great achievement of the yoga guru, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, a fitness enthusiast himself, hailed the yoga instructor Swami Sivananda with great respect. Akshay posted a video of the yoga instructor from the distinguished occasion and wrote, “He is 126 years old! And such good health. This video has made me so happy.”
