Ramdev is an Indian yoga guru, businessperson, entrepreneur, and media personality who co-founded Patanjali Ayurved and Patanjali Yogpeeth in 2006.
Born Name
Ramkishan Yadav or Ram Kisan Yadav
Other Names
Baba Ramdev, Ramdev, Swami, Swami Ramdev
Age
He was born between 1965 and 1975.
Born Place
Mahendragarh, Haryana, India
Residence
Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India
Nationality
Education
Ramdev studied at a government school in Shahzadpur until the 8th standard. Later on, he got inclined towards the writings by Dayanand Saraswati, specifically Satyarth Prakash (an 1875 book written originally in Hindi) which led him to leave his government school in order to pursue a gurukula. Therefore, he went on to study at a Gurukul system in Khanpur around the age of 9.
Between 1984 and 1989, Ramdev studied at Arsh Gurukul Mahavidyalaya. He then relocated to Kalwa in order to attend a gurukula and studied under one of his principal gurus, Acharya Baldevji. It was during his time there that he met Balkrishna as a fellow student and it was the time when he studied the Sanskrit language and literature, Hindu philosophical and religious texts, as well as traditions of yoga and asceticism. He finished his studies in 1992.
Additionally, he learned yoga from Acharya Karamveer at Kripalu Bagh Ashram.
Occupation
Yoga Guru, Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Media Personality
Family
Father – Ram Niwas (Farmer)
Mother – Gulabo Devi (Farmer)
Siblings – He has an older and a younger brother as well as a younger sister.
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 7 in or 170 cm
Weight
64 kg or 141 lbs
Race / Ethnicity
Asian (Indian)
Hair Color
Salt and Pepper
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Sports a long beard
Brand Endorsements
Ramdev has served as a brand ambassador for Patanjali Ayurved.
Religion
Hinduism
Ramdev Facts
He was born to a poor illiterate couple who worked as farmers.
Ever since his childhood years, the left side of his face has been partly paralyzed perhaps owing to a congenital disability or a childhood illness.
During his time in Kalwa, he offered free yoga training to villagers. He subsequently took vows of renunciation, adopted sannyasa, and took the name “Ramdev”.
Along with Balkrishna and Acharya Karamveer, Baba Ramdev co-founded Divya Yoga Mandir Trust which was set up at the Kripalu Bagh Ashram in Haridwar on January 5, 1995.
Following the death of Ramdev’s advisor Rajiv Dixit (who reportedly died of a cardiac arrest on November 30, 2010, in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh), it was claimed that some of his followers believe that he was poisoned to death claiming foul play by Baba Ramdev. However, Ramdev denied the claims.
After the Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutionality of Section 377 (which makes s*xual activities “against the order of nature” illegal, in part criminalizing homos*xuality) in 2013, Ramdev went on to describe homos*xuality a bad addiction and even claimed that he can cure it by yoga. When he was asked how would he do that, Baba Ramdev demonstrated by standing straight.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Patanjali Ayurved announced a drug named Coronil for COVID-19 treatment in June 2020 and marketed it as a cure for COVID-19 patients. Soon after, the Indian government allowed Patanjali Ayurved to market Coronil as an immunity booster but not a cure and banned it from selling as a COVID-19 cure while the Madras High Court fined the company ₹10 lakh for “exploiting fear and panic among the general public by projecting a cure for the coronavirus.”