92nd birth anniversary of Balakrishna Shastrigal to be celebrated

T.S Balakrishna Shastrigal

Harikatha legend, Brahmashri T.S. Balakrishna Shastrigal (popularly known as TSB) was renowned for his soul-stirring discourses on the Indian sacred texts such as the Mahabharata and the Bhagavatam , in addition to his own creation, the Tyagaraja Ramayanam . As has been the practice since TSB’s demise in 2003, his family celebrates his birth anniversary around Krishna Jayanti — his birthday — each year by releasing audio recordings of his live discourses.

This year, TSB’s sons — director, writer and actor Mouli, and Creative Director S.B. Khanthan — and their families will celebrate the luminary’s 92nd birth anniversary on 4 September.

The family, in association with

Swathi Soft Solutions , has released rare recordings of TSB which include

Tyagaraja Ramayanam - live 22 hours; a unique unfurling of Dikshitar Charitram titled

Guru Guha Jayati ;

Shrimad Bhagavata Saptaaham; an English discourse recorded in the United States on Saint Tyagaraja’s pilgrimage and so forth. This year, Swathi Soft Solutions will release a special retrieval from the archives of TSB’s

Mahabharatam that was performed many decades ago. The 23-hour recording has been carefully resurrected by well-known audiographer Raghunathan.

The twin-CD MP3 pack will be released by Hon Justice V. Ramasubranian and the first copy will be received by Padma Vibhushan awardee

Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman on Sunday, 4 September, 2011 at 3 p.m. at Tatvaloka Hall, Eldams Road, Chennai.

The CD release will be followed by a discourse on Rukmini Kalyanam by Upanyasa Chakravarti Srivatsa S. Jayarama Sharma, brother-in-law of the legend.