Radha Krsna Temple

The Radha Krishna Temple were a group of Hare Krishna devotees from the late 60's and early 70's playing devotional Indian music that focused on the Hindu god, Lord Krishna. The band on their recordings consisted of George Harrison on harmonium, guitar and bass; Tamal Krishna Goswami on flute; Harivilas, Yamuna, Jivananda, Lilavati and Yogesvara on lead vocals; and assembled Hare Krishna devotees on backing vocals, mridanga and kartals. In addition, Alan White played drums on the debut single, while John Barham supplied the orchestral arrangement for "Govinda".  Another devotee, Mukunda Goswami (as Makunda Das Adhikary), originally a jazz musician himself, was credited with arranging the traditional songs. Two singles were released from the album ""Hare Krishna Mantra" backed by "Prayer to the Spiritual Masters" was issued on 22 August 1969 in the United States, and 29 August in Britain. After the single's surprise success in the UK (where it peaked at number 12), "Govinda" was released as a follow-up on 6 March 1970 (24 March in the United States), with "Govinda Jai Jai" − often spelt as "Govinda Jaya Jaya" − on the B-side. This second single likewise made the British top 30, peaking at number 23.
==Links to Peel==
Peel, who was not a Hare Krishna devotee, played the Radha Krishna Temple's single releases. Because of their spirtuality and pro-vegetarian philosophy, the DJ could relate to the group, as he himself was a supporter of the hippie movement and a vegetarian. As the Radha Krishna Temple had recorded for the Beatles' Apple label, their singles attracted some music industry attention and gained enough radio airplay on other Radio One shows to make the charts..
The album, issued in 1971, was found later in John Peel's Record Collection: R.  Not everyone took the Hare Krishna followers seriously, however, and their constant chanting and singing in the streets soon drew ridicule from sceptics. The Bonzo Dog Band created their own variant of the Hare Krishna chant; "Harry Maynard, Harry Maynard....". In addition, Peel's record label Dandelion Records, had Bill Oddie singing a Hare Krishna parody called "Harry Krishna", as the B-side to his Joe Cocker spoof, "On Ilkla Moor Baht’at". Not surprisingly it failed to reach the charts. It did, however, later turn up among the favourite singles in John Peel's Record Box.
==Sessions==
*None
==Other Shows Played==
thumb|right|335 px|'Govinda', played by Peel on 21 March 1970The list below is compiled from the database of this site and is therefore incomplete. Please add further information if known.
;1970
*21 March 1970: Govinda (7") APPLE 25
;1971
* 21 August 1971: Govinda
== See Also ==
*Record Collection: R
*Gigography 1968
*Gigography 1969 
*Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
*Official Website
Category:Artists