Fort Couch student holds Guinness World Record

Aug. 31, 2023

An eighth grader from Upper St. Clair is now a Guinness World Record holder. Kavin Senthil Kumar, who attends Fort Couch Middle School, was among 1,329 participants who performed the largest simultaneous Hindu text recital.

Kavin and his group recited the Srimad Bhagavad Gita that contains 700 verses – 2,800 lines –from memory with authentic Sanskrit pronunciations. The event took place on Aug. 13, 2022, in Allen, Texas. However, official certificates from Guinness World Records were only recently received.

According to Kavin’s mom, Pradeepa Senthil Kumar, Sanskrit is India’s oldest language, and is called the Language of Gods. Kavin and other participants underwent rigorous training and assessment for 10 months to memorize the text.

Guinness World Records has been measuring, verifying and recording the world’s achievements since 1954.

“Today, our mission is to maintain an archive of records that inspires, engages and entertains people across the globe, and celebrates the world’s best,” Alistair Richards, Guinness World Records president, said. “Of the thousands of applications we receive every month, less than 5% actually make it to become an official entry in our archive.”