Ravikiran was commissioned to composed Savitri as a 2-part dance opera in 1998 by Dr Chandrabhanu's Bharatam Dance Company. This grand opera was staged every day at the National Theatre, Melbourne and garnered acclaim from both the Australian public and the media. Part I of the opera centers around Savitri, a lady of tremendous will and ingenuity who outwits Yama, the God of Death and gets the life of her husband Satyavan back. Ravikiran scored traditional music and wrote the lyrics in Tamil and Sanskrit for this part. Part II is a depiction of the couple in the 20th century for which the composer only instrumental music. The Melbourne Age declared, "Ravikiran's compositions with strong rhythmic structures, and free form interaction with instruments is the first reason for the dancer's expansion of the language." The lead musicians included Lata Ganapathy (Vocal), R Thiagarajan (Flute) and V V S Murari (Violin).