Carnatic music vocalist T.M.Krishna celebrated a major milestone on Thursday when he scaled the 6,119 meter Lobuche East peak in Nepal.

Krishna posted a video on X and said this was his sixth mountain summit.

The Chennai-born Carnatic musician, who is also an outspoken commentator and public speaker on social and cultural issues, completed the expedition in eight hours.

Following his ascent, he upheld a unique tradition that he follows on each of his summits- by singing a soulful song. It is a ritual inspired by his climbing mentor Badri Vijayaraghan, who is a seasoned climber based out of Chennai.

“Summited my 6th mountain yesterday, Lobuche East ( 6119 meters/20,080 Ft). Have been singing on each of my summits thanks to my Climbing Guru @badri_vijayaraghavan making me sing the first time. More in a longer post, for now listen to the song through the wind, and cut me some slack because I sang after a long 8 plus hour summit push!” Krishna said in the post.

Earlier, in an interview, Krishna had claimed that his journey in climbing began with Ladakh when he summited Stok Kangri, the highest mountain in the Stok range of the Himalayas, at 20,187 feet.

“Climbing is addictive; and it’s not because it’s a quick-fix solution to all your problems. I think the mountains provide me the space to return to my life with a sense of calm, breathe better and let things flow.” Krishna said in an interview with Nat Geo Traveller in July, 2017.