The Lakshman Sruthi Orchestra is a orchestra based in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. It was established in 1987 with 10 members. Since then, it has performed over 7,800 times in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, and has performed across the world. The orchestra maintains completely manual orchestration; it does not use synthesizers or any other electronic equipment.

World record

The Lakshman Sruthi Orchestra was the first orchestra to carry out a 36-hour non-stop light music performance on 17–18 December 1994 at Kamarajar Arangam in Chennai, setting a world record in the process. The performance was inaugurated by Padmashree Dr. K. J. Yesudas and watched by an audience of 24,000 people. This audience included

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. Popularly known by the sobriquet "Mellisai Mannar" (), he ...

, T. K. Ramamoorthy, Isaignani

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu movies for around 50 years. They also directed one movie '' Jagathalaprathapan'' in 1990 Personal life Shankar was the younger brother of ...

Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran (born Amar Singh) is an Indian composer, playback singer, lyricist, actor, film director and a screenwriter in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as ...

, Isai Puyal,

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

, T. Rajendar, R. Pandiarajan and

Ramarajan Kumaresan Ramaiyya better knows as Ramarajan (born 18 October 1960) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and politician. He is referred as Makkal Nayagan for acting and directing films on village-based subjects. Career Ramarajan sta ...

Special shows

As well as performing its own shows, the Lakshman Sruthi Orchestra also put on a show with the well-known playback singers Dr. K. J. Yesudas and Dr. S. P. Balasubramanyam performing together in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. This same combination was promoted all over the world, with a total of 14 stage shows so far. At another time, a show made up of film music from the

Carnatic music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

tradition was organized. This was presided over by N. S. K. Vaidhyanathan,

Kadri Gopalnath Kadri Gopalnath (6 December 1949 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian alto saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music for that instrument. Early life Born in a Tulu speaking Jogi community of Sajeepa Mooda village in Bantwal taluk ...

Nithyashree Mahadevan Nithyasree Mahadevan (born 25 August 1973), also referred to as S. Nithyasree, is a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. Nithyashree has performed in all major sabhas in India. She has released more tha ...

and Sowmya. On 4 August 1996, a show was held for women only in Chennai at the Kamarajar Arangam. The orchestra has frequently been involved in devotional music. For the last 14 years, they have performed completely devotional concerts, with free admission, especially for

Ayyappan Ayyappan, also known as Dharmasastha and Manikandan, is the Hindu deity of truth and righteousness. According to Hindu theology, he is described as the son of Shiva and Mohini (the female avatar of Vishnu), thus representing a bridge between S ...

devotees. In addition, the orchestra has performed large-scale gala shows in many countries around the world. These include Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland, USA, Canada and Denmark.

Thematic shows

The Lakshman Sruthi Orchestra has also performed various thematic shows, including: * Patriotic Songs (Organized for Kargil Relief Fund) * Children's Special * Lighting Special * Pattikada Pattanama * Natchathira Pattu Katchery * Kaviarasu

Kannadasan Muthiah Sathappan Chettiar better known as Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important l ...

Hits * Padmashree

Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he firs ...

Hits *

MGR Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

Hits *

Sivaji Sontineni Sivaji (born 30 June 1971), is an Indian actor and voice actor who works in Telugu cinema. He had won the Nandi Award for Best Male Dubbing Artist for '' Dil''. His notable performances include ''Missamma'' (2003), '' Adirindayya Chan ...

Hits * Rajini Hits * Kamal Hits * K. Balachander Hits * Manirathnam Hits * Mohan Hits * Love Failure Hits * One Man Show without Duet (by Dr. S. P. Balasubrahmanyam)

International shows

The Lakshman Sruthi Orchestra has also performed a mobile concert to raise funds and awareness for Gujarat earthquake relief.

External links

* {{authority control Indian orchestras