# Soorya Krishnamoorthy, cultural pioneer and festival founder, dies at 78 2026-09-23T16:51:54+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets Soorya Krishnamoorthy, the cultural activist, theatre director and former chairman of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, died in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, 23 September 2026. He was 78. He had been undergoing treatment for an illness and was critical for the past two weeks, Onmanorama reports. An engineer by training, Krishnamoorthy worked at ISRO from 1972 to 1999, when he took voluntary retirement to focus on the arts, The Hindu reports. In 1977 he founded the Soorya Stage and Film Society, which grew into the annual Soorya Festival, one of the world's longest cultural festivals, spanning over 100 days. The festival now operates across 23 countries and 30 international cities, Mathrubhumi reports. Krishnamoorthy insisted on no tickets and no awards, The Hindu adds. He received the Kerala Prabha Award, the Kalaimamani award from Tamil Nadu, and a National Film Award for Stage Craft and Direction from the President of India, Onmanorama and Mathrubhumi report. Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan called him a revolutionary figure, while Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan recalled his blend of scientific temper and aesthetics, The Hindu reports. ## Indian Opinion Analysis All three outlets report the same facts with similar emphasis on his ISRO-to-arts journey and the scale of the Soorya Festival. Onmanorama and Mathrubhumi foreground his awards and the festival's global reach, while The Hindu adds his no-ticket, no-awards policy and quotes both the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, giving the story a political balance absent from the other two. The coverage is uniformly neutral reporting, no source adopts a critical or ideological frame. His legacy as an apolitical cultural organiser appears uncontested. The Soorya Festival's next edition in October 2026 will proceed without its founder. ## Coverage - onmanorama.com (neutral report) Straight obituary, no editorial slant - thehindu.com (neutral report) Balanced obituary with political quotes, no slant - english.mathrubhumi.com (neutral report) Straight obituary, no editorial slant Tags: ISRO, Soorya Festival, Soorya Krishnamoorthy, Thiruvananthapuram Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/soorya-festival-founder-soorya-krishnamoorthy-dies-at-78/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/soorya-festival-founder-soorya-krishnamoorthy-dies-at-78/#story-in-brief