Sivananda (yoga teacher)

Sivananda is a yoga teacher from Bangladesh who claims to be born on 8 August 1896. On March 21 2022, he was awarded the Padma Shri.

Bio

Sivananda is alleged to have been born on August 8, 1896, although this has not been independently verified. Indian media have taken his claimed date of birth at face value but credible sources supporting/contravening the same are lacking. He was born in Sylhet District of Bengal Presidency of British India (present-day Sylhet Division of Bangladesh).

His parents lived in extreme poverty and even had to beg for their living. His sister, mother, and father all died within a month of each other when he was just six years old. Then he travelled to Kashi from Bengal and began serving there. Swami Sivananda mastered yoga and meditation after receiving his education from Guru Omkarananda.

For over three decades, he taught yoga on the banks of river Ganga in Varanasi.