Radha-Krishna Temple (London) | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | ISKCON London |
Origin | London, England |
Genres | Devotional music, Indian music |
Years active | 1969–Present |
Labels | Apple |
Past members | Principal: Mukunda Yamuna Shyamsundar Gurudas Janaki Malati Other: Harivilas Isham Tamal Krishna Yogesvara |
Website | https://iskcon.london |
The Radha-Krishna Temple (also Radha-Krsna Temple) is the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. It was founded in Bury Place, Bloomsbury, by six devotees from San Francisco's Radha-Krishna Temple, who were sent by ISKCON leader A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to establish a UK branch of the movement in 1968. The Temple came to prominence through George Harrison of the Beatles publicly aligning himself with Krishna consciousness. Among the six initial representatives in London, devotees Mukunda, Shyamsundar and Malati all went on to hold senior positions in the rapidly growing ISKCON organisation.
As Radha-Krishna Temple (London), the Temple devotees recorded an album of devotional music with Harrison, which was issued on the Beatles' Apple record label in 1971. Among these recordings were "Hare Krishna Mantra", an international hit single in 1969 that helped popularise the Maha Mantra in the West, and "Govinda". With Harrison's financial support, the Radha-Krishna Temple secured its first permanent premises, at Bury Place in central London, then acquired a country property in Hertfordshire, known as Bhaktivedanta Manor. In 1979, following legal proceedings over the use of the Bury Place site, the central London temple moved to a new premises at Soho Square.