Krishna's Kitchen Kirtans
Krishna's Kitchen Kirtans
Dinanatha Sandhya Aarti 1975
March 1975 marked the second major ISKCON Mayapur Festival, where more than 800 devotees from around the world gathered to celebrate Gaura Purnima with Srila Prabhupada. Each year, the festival reflected the steady growth and remarkable progress of Srila Prabhupada’s expanding mission. Srila Prabhupada circumambulated Sri Sri Radha Madhava each day, ringing the temple bell driving the devotees into an ecstatic frenzy. Large parikrama parties would visit holy sites. By this time, the monumental entrance gate was nearly completed, devotees were housed in rooms along the perimeter wall, the massive prasadam hall, capable of serving 10,000 people daily, was fully operational, the goshala was established, and a bathing ghat was under construction at the very location where the TOVP now stands. This was also the first leg in the festival, the second was the Krishna Balarama Mandir installation in Vrindavan.
On the second evening of the festival, an unforgettable aarti led by Dinanatha Prabhu left a profound and lasting impression on many of us visiting from the West. The accompanying photographs of Srila Prabhupada, parikrama kirtans and the Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir project beautifully capture the atmosphere and historic moments of that era.
In the kitchen, when we listened to this kirtan it would take us back to those ecstatic and supremely optimistic moments in Mayapur. This kirtan became the soundtrack for many Sunday feast preparation days.
Vrindavan Soundtrack: Sita Rama Mandir
By the time of the first major Mayapur–Vrindavan Festival in 1974, the Sita Rama Mandir had already been performing 24-hour kirtans for over sixty years. We stayed just across the street at Fogla Ashram, serenaded day and night by the sounds of peacocks, residents calling out “Jaya Radhe!”, and, of course, the melodious and enthusiastic kirtans flowing from the Sita Rama Mandir.
The temple’s kirtans ranged from simple and beautiful women’s gatherings, marked by gentle dholak rhythms, to more elaborate and outwardly expressive men’s kirtans featuring masterful dholak playing and a variety of sweet, devotional melodies. The location, just down the street toward the town of Vrindavan from the Krishna Balaram Mandir construction site, provided a constant soundtrack as we moved between Fogla Ashram and the temple.
In 1974, Fogla Ashram was central to all our activities. Each morning we gathered there for Srimad-Bhagavatam class and Guru Puja with Srila Prabhupada. When the Krishna Balaram Temple opened in 1975, most of us continued to stay at Fogla Ashram, though all of our activities shifted to the new temple compound. Even in 1976, Fogla remained home base for the majority of devotees.
That year, equipped with a better tape recorder than before, I was determined to capture the spirit of the Sita Rama Mandir’s kirtans. The open schedule on Rama Navami offered the perfect opportunity. Entering the compound, I offered my respects to the Sita Rama Deities and joined a group of six men deeply absorbed in kirtan. They greeted me warmly, then turned their full attention back to their chanting.
The result was a beautiful recording—one that captures not only their music, but the selfless devotion that sustained this sacred tradition for generations.
Visnujan Swami leads Udilo Aruna Bhajan Mayapur 1975
Mayapur Festival 1975. It was the second large ISKCON festival in Mayapur and one can hear the devotion and enthusiam as Visnujan Swami led bhajans. He sings Udilo Aruna by Bhaktivinode Thakur and seamlessly moves to Jiv Jago as the recording ends. Original 1975 recording by Gopati das, remastered by Uttamasloka das in 2024. Photos taken during the Mayapur Festival by Gopati das in 1975.
Mayapur Gurukula Kirtan Greeting Srila Prabhupada 1977
Every morning during the 1977 Mayapur Festival, the Mayapur gurukula students would perform kirtan for Srila Prabhupad as he arrived to greet Sri Sri Radha Madhava. This was a highlighted memory for so many of us who were there. This is also one of the kirtans we would listen to while preparing offerings for Sri Sri Kishora Kishori in the Chicago temple in Evanston.
This is the audio of the the video, recorded by Gopati das using a Nakamichi portable recording deck with a three mike system. The track was remastered by Uttamasloka das in 2024.
The photos are from the 1974 Mayapur festival and highlight Srila Prabhupada touring ISKCON's first F.A.T.E. exhibit on the temple grounds. Other photos are of the ISKCON parikrama party on Bhaktisiddhanta Marg, initiation ceremony and the Mayapur temple grounds with only one building and Srila Prabhupada's original hut.
Brahma Samhita at Guntur Pandal in South India 1976
This classic recording of the Brahma Samhita was from a Pandal in Guntur, South India in 1976. Led by Acyutananda das and Yasodananda das and accompanied by a small travelling team of brahmacaris which included Rksaraja das who made this recording. There was a kirtan after this beautiful recitation, but this part has inspired devotees for years. When Gopati das met Rksaraja in 1976, they exchanged recordings and this was one of his personal recordings. The photos are a mixture of Deity photos from Gopati das' travels to temples from 1974 through 1977.
Rksaraja Das -- Live in Vrindavan 1977
The soundtrack of temple kitchens during the 1970s were tapes of kirtans and lectures by Srila Prabhupad, his prominent disciples and popular Kirtaniyas. From the early to mid 1970s Golden Avatar Productions supplied most of the tapes. From the first big Mayapur Vrndavan festival in 1974 on, many of us brought tape recorders and began recording lectures and kirtans. Every year we were inspired to bring better tape recorders. As part of Uttamasloka's Chicago team in 1977, I traveled with an audiophile portable Nakamichi recording deck. It had a three microphone system, right, left and blend mics which I would set up with small tripods. During that festival in Mayapur, Srila Prabhupada's UHER deck stopped working for a day and I was asked to use this setup to record one of Srila Prabhupada's lectures for the tape ministry.
Rksaraja Prabhu was one of ISKCON's great early Kirtaniyas. In 1976, he had released a recording with Vishndatt and Dinantha recorded in Mombassa, Kenya which became an anthem among devotees that year. We met while staying at Fogla Asram in Vrndavan in 1976 and swapped many recordings. In 1977, he was beginning to do studio recordings, and with my traveling recording gear, decided to do a recording session during the festival. We recorded three kirtans, one with Tranakarta Das on mrdanga, the other with Duryodhana Guru Das on tabla. This is the third kirtan recorded, after Mani Bandha Das stepped into the room and picked up the mrdanga. The result was a down to earth and spontaneous kirtan with Srila Prabhupada on our minds and in our hearts.
Aroti and Evening Program Radha Govinda Mandir 1977
A Spiritual Journey Through Jaipur: Historic Kirtans and Sacred Moments
Toward the conclusion of the Mayapur Vrindavan Festival in April 1977, Uttamasloka Prabhu entrusted me with a special mission: traveling to Jaipur to commission large marble Gaura-Nitai Deities for the Chicago temple. This journey was not only a service but also a deeply transformative experience, blending devotion, music, and sacred offerings.
At the time, I was diligently recording kirtans and bhajans using a Nakamichi 550 portable audiophile cassette recorder, a state-of-the-art system with three condenser microphones. This unique setup allowed me to capture the full sonic richness of devotional gatherings, and in Jaipur, I had the rare opportunity to record the entire evening programat the historic Radha Govinda Mandir. Carefully positioning mic stands, I preserved the sounds of kirtan as they reverberated through the temple halls, an immersive experience that remains etched in my memory.
After the program, the temple brahmanas graciously led me to a secluded altar-side door, where they presented me with an extraordinary array of maha prasadam. Honoring that prasadam was not merely a meal—it was a profound spiritual experience, one that would influence my own cooking for years to come, imprinting flavors of devotion that extended beyond the palate and into the heart.
The Gaura-Nitai Deities were commissioned from the same murti-walla who had carved the Krishna-Balarama Mandir Deities—a connection that added further significance to this sacred endeavor. The entire visit to Jaipur was an experience of devotional fulfillment, a journey steeped in service, sound, and sacred food traditions.
This video brings that historic moment to life, beginning with stunning visual media courtesy of Stephen Knapp. It then transitions to rare archival photos of the original Radha Govinda Mandir in Vrindavan and evocative images of Srila Prabhupada’s visit to Jaipur in 1972. Contemporary temple imagery, beautifully captured by Ananta Vrindavan, follows, offering a timeless perspective on these sacred spaces.
The heart of the video unfolds with aroti, Tulsi Puja, and soul-stirring kirtans, including Hari Haraya Namah and more, echoing the bhakti traditions that have flourished for centuries.
For those who cherish historic kirtans, prasadam stories, and the deeper spiritual journey they inspire, visit Prasad.life to explore more.
Mayapur Parikrama Celebration at Srivasa Angan 1975
Acyutananda swami was the most influential kirtan leading disciple of Srila Prabhupada in ISKCON from 1973 to 1975. His tapes introducing his unique Indian-style bhajans and kirtans In the first two large Mayapur Festivals in 1974 and 1975, he led every parikrama. He was with Srila Prabhupada when he first returned from America and was almost single handedly responsible for introducing traditional Bengali-style kirtan to the western temples. We listened to his bhajans and kirtans extensively during those years.