Guiding light
Our Inspiration
The character of a school begins with the idea behind it. Ours comes from Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his emphasis on calm attention, human values and service.
Founder, The Art of Living
- 1981
- Art of Living founded
- 155
- Countries reached
- 370M+
- Lives touched
- 120+
- SSRVM institutions
01The founder
A humanitarian and a spiritual leader
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a humanitarian and spiritual leader, an ambassador of peace and human values, and the founder of The Art of Living Foundation. Through his life and work he has inspired millions with a vision of a stress-free, violence-free world.
He has founded courses that give people tools to live a deeper, more joyous life, and established nonprofit organisations that recognise a common human identity above the boundaries of race, nationality and religion. The schools came out of the same conviction: that character and capability are taught together, or not at all.
He founded The Art of Living in 1981. Today it works in 155 countries and has reached more than 370 million people through breathing, meditation, yoga, education and humanitarian service. Sri Sri Academy uses age-appropriate versions of these practices to help students develop calm, focus and compassion.
“The purpose of education is to increase awareness.”
Unless we have a stress-free mind and a violence-free society, we cannot achieve world peace.
02Milestones
Six decades, one direction.
- Early life1956Born
Born on 13 May in Papanasam, Tamil Nadu.
- The first school1981Age 24
Starts the first rural school on the outskirts of Bangalore, creating the foundation for every SSRVM campus that followed.
- The Foundation1982Age 25
Cognizes Sudarshan Kriya during a period of silence, formulates the Art of Living course and establishes the Foundation in Bangalore.
- Into prisons1995Age 39
Launches the Prison Stress Management and Rehabilitative Training programme in India and the United States.
- For children1995Age 39
Launches ART Excel, All Round Training in Excellence, for children between the ages of 8 and 13.
- Human values1997Age 41
Establishes the International Association for Human Values in Geneva and initiates the 5H programme for rural development.
- Youth leadership2000Age 44
Launches the Youth Leadership Training programme to prepare rural and urban youth as leaders of social and economic change.
- Across continents2004Age 48
Undertakes the ‘Love Moves the World’ tour across 175 cities and five continents in twelve months.
- Women first2005Age 49
Launches the first international Women’s Conference at the Art of Living International Headquarters, Bangalore.
- Largest gathering2006Age 50
2.5 million people attend the Foundation’s 25th anniversary in Bangalore, the largest recorded gathering for peace in history.
- Reconciliation2007Age 51
Convenes the ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ Conference in New Delhi to end caste-based discrimination.
- Against terror2009Age 53
Launches a state-wide campaign against terrorism in Mangalore, urging citizens into the work of peace.
- Volunteering2012Age 56
Launches Volunteer for a Better India, a national movement mobilising citizens towards nation building.
- Archive
03The Trust
ssrvm.orgSri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir Trust
Sri Sri Academy Siliguri comes under the aegis of the SSRVM Trust, a nonprofit charitable educational trust founded in 1999 as the education wing of The Art of Living Foundation.
The Trust runs about 120 institutions from pre-primary to post-graduate study, including a university at Cuttack, Odisha. Its schools include Bal Mandir, Vidya Mandir and Sri Sri Academy, all recognised among the country’s leading CBSE schools.
- 1999
- Trust founded
- 16
- States
- 17,000+
- Students
- 3,000
- Teachers
What these schools aim for
- 01
Holistic education that enhances cognitive, emotional, physical, social and spiritual learning.
- 02
Students who are academically competent, innovative, creative, socially aware and self-developing.
- 03
A broadened vision and deepened roots, with an appreciation of our own culture and values and those of other nations.
- 04
Human values such as love, friendliness, compassion, caring and sharing within a cheerful, engaging curriculum.
- 05
Modern tools with the moral and spiritual strength to meet the modern world as socially conscious global citizens.
04Beyond school
Where a Sri Sri education can continue after Class XII.
Higher education under the Trust.
- 01Sri Sri UniversityCuttack, Odisha
- 02Sri Sri Ravishankar Junior CollegeOsmanabad, Maharashtra
- 03Sri Sri College of Ayurveda Science and ResearchBangalore
- 04Sri Sri Institute of Management StudiesManagement
- 05Sri Sri Centre for Media StudiesMedia
- 06Sri Sri Centre of Professional ExcellenceProfessional training
- 07Sri Sri School for Performing Art & Fine ArtsMusic, dance, fine arts
- 08Sri Sri Institute of Computer ScienceOmerga, Maharashtra
Siliguri, every morning
The vision, practised every morning before the first bell.
Come and see an ordinary school day with assembly, breath, class, sport and quiet. Decide for yourself whether it is the education you want for your child.