Soorya Krishnamoorthy, ISRO Scientist Turned Founder of Asia's Longest-Running Cultural Festival, Dies at 78

Soorya Krishnamoorthy, who left a two-decade ISRO career to found the Soorya Festival in 1977, died at Thiruvananthapuram on 23 September 2026, aged 78. A theatre director and cultural organiser, he spent more than twenty years with the Indian Space Research Organisation before turning to the arts full time. He founded the Soorya Festival under the Soorya Stage and Film Society, and the Limca Book of Records recognises it as Asia's longest-running cultural festival, drawing audiences and artists from more than 30 countries. His death came days after that of Vir Chakra awardee Flight Lieutenant Alfred Tyrone Cooke, in a month of notable Indian obituaries.