Kottayam: St George Orthodox Church will award Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar, spiritual leader, who founded The Art Of Living, with ‘Order of St George’ award as part of Kottayam’s Puthupally Pally (a famous church by the name St George Orthodox Church) in Kerala.

The open event on May 5 is part of the 462-year-old church’s commemorative feast, and will be attended by leaders and prominent society members.

HH Baselius Marthoma Paulose II, the Catholicos of the east, and the metropolitans of the church will lead the various programs associated with the feast.

The church is known for several traditional rituals such as flag hoisting, fireworks, feeding rice to children for the first time, family unions, etc, during the annual feast.

Special  holy communions will be held on May 6 and 7. The installation of the golden cross at the main  sacrificial altar will also take place on May 6.

The martyrdom day of St Geevarghese Sahada was on April 23.

An estimated 10,001 kg of rice will be cooked for those who attend the feast this year.

The annual convention commenced on April 30 and will conclude on May  5.

Gurudev has been the driving force behind a worldwide movement for a stress-free, violence-free society. Through a multitude of programs, teachings, organisations, and a swiftly growing world-wide presence in 155 countries, the spiritual leader has reached out to an estimated 450 million people.

These organisations provide a  number of service initiatives such as trauma relief in conflict zones and natural disasters, running over 618 free schools in isolated areas of the country, educating 70,000 children, and more.

The Art of Living has also strived towards rejuvenating 41 dried-up rivers in at least four states.