Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

• After making a small Shivalinga at the age of five; he (with his sister) used to emulate the puja performed by his grandmother.

• According to his sister, during his childhood, he was a little bit naughty and humorous. One day; after returning from school, she and Ravi emptied the suitcase of their father and filled it with toys that made everyone surprise in his office.

• During his school days, he was a multi-talented student and would participate in dance, singing, and theatre, etc. He was so affectionate to his teachers that they would come to him for solace.

• By the age of four, he could recite the whole Bhagwat Geets (an ancient Sanskrit scripture of India).

• In 1982, after entering into a ten-day period of silence in Shimoga (a city in Karnataka State), he developed a technique – The Sudarshan Kriya (a powerful breathing process). 

• In his childhood, he was inspired by Sudhakar Chaturvedi (a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi) and later took initiation from his Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

• He is the founder of Art of Living Foundation (created in 1981) and the International Association for Human Values (IAHV, created in 1997) that aims to establish a stress-free and violence-free society. 

• His Youth Empowerment Programs in the USA are tackling the problems of drugs, alcohol, and violence of the youth, successfully.

• He has started over 435 schools to provide free education to the underprivileged children in India.

• One of the aims of his organization is to care for the environment. Focussing on this, 71 million trees in 36 countries have been planted by his volunteers, and 33 rivers, as well as thousands of water bodies, are being revived by him in India.

• To rehabilitate prisoners, his programme has reached more than 7,00,000 prisoners globally.

• In New Delhi, from 11th to 13th of March 2016, he organized the World Culture Festival where more than 3.75 million people from 155 countries participated, and to celebrate the values of all faiths 36,602 dancers and musicians performed on a 7-acre- stage. 

• He has received 16 Honorary Doctorates globally and has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India and highest civilian awards of Colombia, Mongolia, and Paraguay. 

• He has been honored with Bharat Shiromani Award (2005), Dr. Nagendra Singh International Peace Award, India (2016), Tiradentes Medal, (the highest honor from Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil), The Sivananda World Peace award, South Africa (August 2012), Honorary Citizenship and Goodwill Ambassador, USA,(2008), Order of the Pole Star, Mongolia (2006) and many others. 

• He has organized 52,466 hygiene, 27,427 medical, and 165,000 stress relief camps that have been provided benefit to 5.6 million people so far.

• His organizations have electrified 760 villages with renewable energy in distant parts of India and helped to build 1,000 biogas plants, 1,200 bore-wells, 16,550 toilets and 3,819 homes in India.

• IAHV has been provided trauma relief programs to 50,000 affected people and 4307 women have been provided vocational training in Iraq. 

• Over 2.2 million farmers from 22 States in India have been provided natural farming practices by the leaders of his society.

• His Sri Sri University in Odisha (established in 2009), won the Best Innovative University Award at the 2017 National Education Excellence Awards. 

• In 2009, he was announced the 5th most powerful leader in India by the Forbes Magazine.

• His famous literary works are Patanjali Yoga Sutras, God Loves Fun, Celebrating Silence, Ashtavakra Gita, An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker, and many others. 
• He spoke frankly about many aspects of his personality during his interview on the channel ‘Times Now.’