A staggering 1.6 lakh musicians sang Annamacharya keertanas in praise of lord Venkateswara in Hydearabad city on 10th may 2009 Sunday, setting a new world record. The official adjudicator of Guinness Records, Mr Rey-mond Marshal, announced to huge applause that the event, Laksha Gala Sankee-rtanarchana, had broken the previous record of Poland where 60,000 people sang the national anthem together on August 2, 1937.
In all 1.6 lakh people participated in the event. The previous record has been broken. He handed over the certificate to the finance minister, Mr K. Rosaiah. The event was organised to pay tribute to the poet Tallapaka Annamacharya on his 601st birth anniversary. Musicians sang and performed on instruments the Annamacharya songs Bhavamulona, Bramhakadigina Padamu, Enthamatramuna, Podagantimayya, Kondalalo Nelokonna Koneti Rayudu, Narayana Namo Namo and Muddugare Yashoda. The event saw thousands of young musicians, who outnumbered the older participants. The event was organised by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, AP cultural department and Silicon Andhra, a US-based cultural organisation for Telugus. It took three months to organise the singing marathon.
