Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy

The Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy, also known as SASTRA, is a private and deemed university in the town of Thirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. SASTRA is ranked by global ranking agencies such as Times Higher Education and QS. It offers undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral courses in Engineering, Science, Education, Management, Law and the Arts.

History
SASTRA Deemed University started in 1984 in the form of Shanmugha College of Engineering, affiliated to the Bharathidasan University, Trichy. In 2001 it was renamed as Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy. It was the first institution to get the 'Deemed University status' in Tamil Nadu. Srinivasa Ramanujam Center at Kumbakonam is attached to it.

In 2011, software company Tata Consultancy Services set a world record of recruiting 1,755 students from SASTRA, the largest recruitment by any company in the world from a single campus.

Campus
The campus is built on 232 acre of land. The total built area is about 195000 m2, out of which about 85000 m2 are hostels, quarters and guest houses. SASTRA will provide totally 119 courses across the 10 Streams.

Ranking
SASTRA has been re-accredited in the IV cycle with an 'A++' grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission.

SASTRA was ranked 34th among engineering colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2023, 26th among universities, and 49th among law colleges and 42nd overall.

Festivals
The first edition of Kuruksastra was held on 2–3 March 2007. The second edition of Kuruksastra was on 6–9 March 2008.

It started the tradition of hosting musical celebrities for a "Pro Nite" show with singers such as Shankar Mahadevan, Karthik, Mahathi, Pop Shalini, Stephen Devassy and Suchitra. It had over 1200 participants, making it one of the largest such festivals in the country.

Land encroachment case
In 1985, the Thanjavur Revenue Department accused the institution with encroachment and issued an eviction notice. The institute objected and the parties engaged in a long judicial battle. The institute was sent with an eviction notice by the Madras High Court in 2018. The institute challenged this again seeking assignment of the said lands in its name, but the High Court rejected the case and issued a Government Order preventing lands to the assigned to the institute. The Tamil Nadu government on February 25, 2022, issued an eviction notice after the court's order.