Overview

• Jonas Masetti received India’s Padma Shri from President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 28, 2025.
• He accepted the honour barefoot in a white dhoti and tilak, calling it a tribute to his family and Vedic tradition.
• Masetti left a career as a mechanical engineer in Brazil to study Vedanta under Swami Dayananda Saraswati in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
• He founded Vishva Vidya Gurukulam in Petrópolis, where free online courses have attracted more than 150,000 students worldwide.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi previously praised Masetti as a cultural ambassador of India during his 2024 Mann Ki Baat address.