Lakshminarayanan Shankar (born April 26, 1950), also known as L. Shankar, Shankar or Shenkar, is a violinist, vocalist and composer. Early life L. Shankar was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu. Growing up in Jaffna, Ceylon, where his father V. Lakshminarayan was a professor at the Jaffna College of Music, Shankar was exposed to Carnatic music and other styles from an early age. His father was an esteemed violinist, his mother L. Seethalakshmi played the veena and all his five older siblings were also proficient in music.