Devi Electrical Studio was started by an outstanding artist Kondiah Raju and his students, T.S. Subbiah, T. S. Arunachalam, Meenakshi Sundram, Shenbagaraman and Mu. Ramalingam in the late forties. Initially they were creating backdrops for studio photography. These back drops were sold by them to studio’s throughout the country upto Kashmir.

Subsequently these artists started painting portraits for the printing industry of Sivakasi for marketing to the retail stores such as textiles, jewellery etc for printing calendars and giving it to their customers. This idea was accepted by the retail stores and these painters were commissioned by the printers of Sivakasi to draw and paint the Gods and Goddesses of the Hindu Pantheon which were used to print the calendars required by the retail industry for distribution to their clientele.

The printers of Sivakasi used an album showcasing the works of the various artistes to show to their potential clients. The printers felt if the cover page had a painting by Ramalingam, it had better reception with their clients for placing orders.

Among these five artists , Kondiah Raju, Subbiah and Mu. Ramalingam specialized in calendar portrait painting. Meenakshisundaram showed his mettle in the designing of backdrops while T. S. Arunchalam a technical genius handled the photography and printing.

The original group of artists who were the backbone of Devi Studio, have departed this world but their works continue to live on through an exhibition in an art gallery set up by K.R. Jayakumar the youngest son of Late Mu. Ramalingam as Chithiralayam Art Gallery (the name of the studio started by Mu. Ramalingam when he moved out of Kondiah Raju’s studio) to showcase their works