Sacidananda Das Solo Bhajans Vrndavan 1977
Sacidananda das was a celebrated bhajan singer in 1970s ISKCON. He made studio recordings distributed all over the world, but what he was mostly known for were his bhajans performed as Krsna Balaram Mandinr in the holy land of Vrndavan, India.
Prabhas Das became a good friend of mine in 1975 during the Krsna Balaram temple installation. He was close to Anand Prabhu (Maharaj), Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother who assisted us in the Deity kitchen. Prabhas often translated. It was through Prabhas, that I came to meet another Bengali devotee Sacidananda Das. Before the 24 hour kirtans took hold, Sacidananda Prabhu would sing bhajans for many hours every day. For many of us, his sweet bhajans were the soundtrack of Vrndavan ISKCON. In March 1977, I brought a semi-professional Nakamichi recording deck with a 3 Mic system to India and recorded Sacidananda Prabhu singing solo bhajans as he did every day for the pleasure of their Lordships Sri Sri Krsna Balarama. This was early in 1977, the same year that Srila Prabhupada transitioned from this earthly plane. In his final days, Srila Prabhupada requested that Sacidananda Das sing bhajans.
These bhajans are presented simply and unadorned, without drums and karatals as they were sung this way most often in the temple, and in Srila Prabhupada’s quarters. Sacidananda das’ sweet devotional voice transports the listener to Vrndavan of the late 1970s.
Images of Sacidananda das singing are intertwined with photos of Vrndavan. In the latter part of the video, photos of Srila Prabhupada and his disciples during the 1975 Krsna Balaram Mandir installation are featured.
~Gopati das