Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (born 13 May 1956), often called Gurudev, is an Indian spiritual teacher and the founder of the Art of Living Foundation. Established in 1981, the foundation teaches breathing techniques, meditation and yoga in more than 150 countries; its central practice is a rhythmic breathing exercise called Sudarshan Kriya. He has also acted as a peace mediator in several conflicts and received the Padma Vibhushan in 2016.
Quick Facts
| Birth name | Ravi Shankar |
| Born | 13 May 1956, Papanasam, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Age | 70 |
| Occupation | Spiritual teacher |
| Organisations | Art of Living Foundation (1981); International Association for Human Values (1997) |
| Parents | R. S. Venkat Ratnam, Visalakshi |
| Education | St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore University (B.Sc.) |
| Honour | Padma Vibhushan (2016) |
Early Life
Ravi Shankar was born in Papanasam into a Tamil family and grew up in Bangalore. He was named “Shankar” after the philosopher Adi Shankara, whose birthday he shares. His first teacher was Sudhakar Chaturvedi, a Vedic scholar who had worked with Mahatma Gandhi. After his science degree he joined Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation, and travelled with him giving talks on Vedic science. He added the honorific “Sri Sri” in the early 1990s to avoid confusion with the sitar player Ravi Shankar.
Art of Living
In 1982 he observed ten days of silence at Shimoga in Karnataka, on the banks of the Bhadra river. He says the Sudarshan Kriya, a pattern of slow, medium and fast breathing, came to him then “like a poem”. It became the core of the Art of Living course. A number of medical studies have reported that the practice reduces stress, anxiety and depression.
The foundation’s international centre is on the Kanakapura Road outside Bengaluru. Its volunteers run free schools in villages and tribal areas, programmes in prisons, river-revival projects and disaster relief.
Peace Work
He has met leaders and fighters in conflict zones including Sri Lanka, Iraq, Kashmir and the North-East of India. In 2015 he met leaders of the FARC rebels in Cuba and urged them to adopt non-violence during Colombia’s peace process, for which Colombia gave him one of its highest honours. In 2019 the Supreme Court of India named him to a three-member panel to mediate the Ayodhya land dispute; the mediation did not produce a settlement.
Controversy
The World Culture Festival held by the foundation on the Yamuna floodplain in Delhi in March 2016 drew huge crowds. The National Green Tribunal held the organisers responsible for damage to the floodplain and imposed a penalty of ₹5 crore, which the foundation contested.
Awards and Honours
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Sri Sri Ravi Shankar born?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was born on 13 May 1956 in Papanasam, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India and is 70 years old.
What is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s occupation?
Occupation: Spiritual teacher.
Featured image: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, 2009. Photo by Dieterschmidt1958, in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
