Ravinder Sharma

Guruji had been awarded with Kala Ratna by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. After the bifurcation of the State, the Telangana government awarded him the Ugadi Puraskaram in 2015. For his work on rural science and technology, Guruji was also conferred the D. Litt (Honoris Causa) by the Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Gurugram, Haryana the same year. He had won many other minor awards during his lifetime.

In 1979, Guruji established Kala Ashram, which has been involved in various activities to bridge the gap between traditional cultural experience and the requirements of modernity with specific reference to traditional, rural artisan and artist communities. The Kala Ashram was actually established to serve as an asylum for destitute and ignored artisans but evolved in a knowledge centre in due course. It hosted some very important events connected with artisans like the Karigar Panchayat in 2008. Guruji shared his knowledge along with insights and anecdotes with people visiting the Kala Ashram and different forums across the country.

Ravinder Sharma (Devanagari: रविंदर शर्मा)(Telugu: రవీందర్ శర్మ) (5 September 1952 - 29 April 2018), known publicly as Guruji, was an Indian artist, craftsman, storyteller, historian, educationist, sociologist, economist in the native Indian context. He was the founder of Adilabad's Kala Ashram and has been awarded with Kala Ratna Award by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Guruji is credited with playing a crucial role for almost four decades in the preservation of the India's ancient rural and tribal art forms.