We are happy to announce all new clothing available now in The Store. All funds from the clothing helps support and expand our kirtan efforts and it keeps you looking sharp. Plus, check out the super deals we have with our special post-holiday bundles.

In Oct 2008 Gaura Vani  & As Kindred Spirits joined some Brazilian kirtaniyas for the first “24 Hour Kirtan Brazil” in the amazing community of New Gokula Dhama, 2 hours from Sao Paulo.

The 24 Hour Kirtan Brazil has been getting bigger and bigger and naturally attracting kirtan lovers from different parts of the world. Now, the project will run at least 4 times an year! This event is organized by the Festival of India Association in Brazil.

On 2nd and 3rd 2010 at the same paradise scenario in New Gokula Dhama and at the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda, great kirtaniyas such as Jagi (Alachua, FL) and Amala Kirtan Das (Dallas, TX) as well as other Brazilian kirtan signers will begin 2010 with another incredible 24 hours Kirtan!

For further info visit – www.kirtanbrasil.com (Portuguese) or www.festivaldaindia.com.br (English)

Hope to see you there!

Yamuna Dasi sings Govindam with Gaura Vani & The Mayapuris

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits with The Mayapuris – Jiv Jago

Just off the busiest street in all of Europe, is a small temple, that has existed since 1969. Inside are the most beautiful deities of Radha Londonisvara (meaning Krishna, the Lord of London) and a family of wonderful devotees that has grown from four in 1969, to hundreds in 2009!

stopped through London on our way to South Africa to take part in the celebrations. On the night before the anniversary, a huge event was held at the stylish Troxy club in the East End. Hundreds of volunteers teamed up to decorate, organise, cook, run sound and lighting, host, photograph and video and perform for the event, all in honour of the contribution that this beautiful temple has made to the city of London since its inception.

It was our honour to perform ‘Govindam’ prayers (two verses from the Brahma Samhita – spoken by Lord Brahma to Lord Krishna at the beginning of creation) with Yamuna devi, one of the original six who gave their lives to start the temple in the 60s. These six struggled through every kind of difficulty imaginable, and within a very short time began to achieve great success, striking up a friendship with George Harrison and John Lennon that eventually resultedin the famous Harrison produced ‘Radha Krishna Temple’ album.  The ‘Govindam’ prayers from this album are now played in ISKCON temples daily all over the world, and it was a real treat to accompany Yamuna devi’s devotion-filled, soulful singing.

We were also blessed to collaborate with many other friends in London, including Tulasi, jahnavai’s sister, who sang beautifully and played kartals; Jaggi, who also sang sweet harmonies and played electric guitar; the Subhadra dancers- four local young Bharatanatyam dancers who specially  choreographed a dance to ‘Hey Nath’; and our new dear friend Colin, whose crazy saxophone playing and infectious humour brightened every moment of our experience.

You can see more photos from the events courtesy of David Crick, who kindly sent us the links:

The Troxy – Saturday 21st November

view: http://davidc.zenfolio.com/troxy/slideshow

download: http://davidc.zenfolio.com/troxy

Soho Street – Sunday 22nd November

view: http://davidc.zenfolio.com/40years22ndnov/slideshow

download: http://davidc.zenfolio.com/40years22ndnov

We had a fun time squishing into the tiny studio and got to have a couple of short kirtans, answering some funny questions in between (watch the video for more).

New videos from the Kuli Mela 09 Gala Event at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Hollywood CA. Among the performing artists were the Mayapuris and Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits!

Mayapuris – Drumming

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits – Jiv Jago

Mayapuris – Hare Krishna

Many thanks to Pablo Larrea at Ideal Concept and all the Kuli Mela organizers.

Our last three days of the Mantralogy Tour were spent in Joshua Tree, California, where a large gathering of kirtaniyas and yogis was being held. Joshua Tree is a beautiful place – a desert studded with strange, shaggy, Dr Seuss-like trees and cactuses. At the retreat centre where the festival was held, tents were set up over a large site with an impressive stage at the heart. For 24 hours a day, different singers and bands chanted – celebrating the different names of the divine. Our friends from the Burning Man Krishna camp were there too, tirelessly serving up delicious meals (and fresh coconuts!) throughout the festival.

The heat was intense, but the desert evenings once the sun had set were beautiful. One night we did 7 hours of kirtan on stage, including our two hour slot of chanting, dance and dynamic drumming by the Mayapuris. On another day we played for a yoga class by Shiva Rea. Deities of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra brought by Shakuntala Zakheim presided over the class, and after chanting throughout, we all joined together for an energetic circle dance (raas-garba) kirtan.

MC Yogi led more chanting of the maha mantra, performing the track ‘Bhakti Boombox’ from his album, and Shyam Das closed the class with a sweet meditation on the divine form of Lord Krishna. After that we carried the deities outside in procession and had the most wonderful spontaneous outdoor kirtan. People joined us as we walked, and by the time we got to the main stage, we were surrounded by a huge crowd, taking pictures and chanting ‘Jagannath, Jagannath!’

With no prior rehearsal, we were really open to discover the potential beauty in the juxtaposition of poetry, rhythm and sacred chant. Over ten evenings, we hopped from Block Island, to the Berkshires, to Boston. In each place we were delighted to receive a warm welcome and enthusiastic voices to join ours! It was also a pleasure to meet with many friends along the way who collaborated with us, such as Keli Lalita, Tom Lena and band, and our new favourite clarinetist Warrick Moses, who we bumped into in a twist of fate on Boston Commons. You can hear his stunning playing in the recordings from Boston Rathayatra and our concert at Back Bay Yoga.

Check out the recordings for some unusual mixes – Govinda Jaya Jaya with a hip hop rap, and Sita Rama to the beat of the spaceship-like hang drum!

Rhode Island 9/19/09

• 01 Gaura Vani - Guru Gauranga Jayate (125)
• 02 Gaura Vani - Siksastakam (118)
• 03 Gaura Vani - Sri Krishna Govinda (114)

Kripalu 9/23/09

• 01 Gaura Vani - Guru Gauranga Jayate (82)
• 02 Gaura Vani - Hare Krishna (157)
• 03 Gaura Vani - Sita Ram (100)
• 04 Gaura Vani - Radha Ramana Hari (110)
• 05 Gaura Vani - Jaya Radhe (78)
• 06 Gaura Vani - Hare Krishna (108)

Yoga Mandali 9/24/09

• 01 Gaura Vani - Guru Gauranga Jayate (55)
• 02 Keli Lalita - Hey Natha (88)
• 03 Gaura Vani - Govinda Jaya Jaya (132)
• 04 Gaura Vani - Sita Ram (216)
• 05 Gaura Vani - Krishna Murari (302)
• 06 Gaura Vani - Hare Krishna (450)
• 07 Gaura Vani - Jaya Radhe (238)

Yoga Sanctuary 9/25/09

• 01 Gaura Vani - Guru Gauranga Jayate (165)
• 02 Gaura Vani - Siksastakam (224)
• 03 Gaura Vani - Sita Ram (181)
• 04 John de Kadt - Drum Poetry (243)

Litchfield CT 9/26/09

• 01 Gaura Vani - Krishna Murari (322)
• 02 Gaura Vani - Guru Gauranga Jayate (308)
• 03 John de Kadt - Sita Ram (701)
• 04 Gaura Vani - Gopala (979)
• 05 Gaura Vani - Jaya Radhe (957)

Back Bay Yoga 9/27/09

• 01 Gaura Vani - Guru Gauranga Jayate (859)
• 02 Gaura Vani - Siksastakam (1282)
• 03 Gaura Vani - Sita Ram (919)
• 04 Jahnavi - Bol Hari Bol (1364)
• 05 Gaura Vani - Govinda Jaya Jaya (1460)
• 06 Gaura - Jaya Radhe (1503)

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits and the Mayapuris are currently touring all around Australia. Our hosts have provided free live streaming audio from all the events. To listen, sign in at WorldSankirtan.net.

After a 24 hour journey we finally reached Australia! It’s spring here and the beauty of the season is completely enchanting – magenta sprays of bougainvillea, clustered lilac jacaranda trees with branches like embroidered thread, long carob pods, and brilliant red flame trees. We’ve tried to just relax today but went down to a local park where we came across a Hang drummer. We couldn’t resist getting into a little jam with him and inviting him to the Brisbane Maha Kirtan on Saturday.

Our week was a little more relaxed than the previous one, after the intensity and high energy surrounding the book launch. We had some opportunities to visit local pilgrimage spots. Not far from the temple is Banganga, a huge water tank said to be fed by an unexplainable water source. The water is considered non different from the holy Ganges and it is also said that Shri Chaitanya, the founder of kirtan, came here to bathe and pay his respects hundreds of years ago. We dropped some of the water on our heads, and explored the village streets around the tank. Despite being so close to the middle of the city, the atmosphere was rural, with geese running here and there, and old temples squeezed between every few houses. Just as we were about to leave, a middle aged woman with a bright face approached us and practically begged us to come to her temple down the road.
‘Please,’ she pleaded, ‘You come see my Lord. You will like very much.’
We followed, a little hesitantly. She led us into a tiny dark stairway, and up a small flight of water logged steps.’Be careful, your head,’ she warned as we ducked under the low doorway.

We found ourselves in a room the size of a closet, where an old man lay on a string cot. He jumped up when we entered, welcoming us in broken English. They both ushered us into the adjoining room, where to our surprise, a beautiful, black stone deity of Lord Balarama, Krishna’s brother stood. The lady explained that the deity had been in her family for generations, and right now, just her and her father cared for him. As her father sat us down and eagerly served out blessed food from the deity (Indian tea biscuits and rock candy!) she told us the story of their life and in suprisingly good English, explained how she wanted to build a three storey temple here, so that many people would be attracted to come and worship Lord Balarama. We were enlivened by her devotion and touched to unexpectedly see the old deity – in kirtan, we always pray to Lord Balarama, as he is represented by all of the instruments used to glorify Lord Krishna.

Other highlights of the week included getting to know many sincere and devoted members of the community; seeing, hearing and driving through the raucous Ganesh Chaturthi festivities that put the city at a standstill as countless processions take to the streets; and getting to enjoy many wonderful early morning kirtans with the Chowpatty temple residents. Their enthusiasm has rightly gained a reputation, and their spontaneous dancing has to be seen to be believed!

The week came to a close with two events. First, a youth evening at Shanmukananda Hall, a 2500 seater auditorium which was filled with 3000 students for the duration of the evening! We were blessed to have many accomplished musicians from the community join us on stage, including Rupa Manjari singing, our friend Rupa Manjari (number two!) from Florida, playing piano, and Prabhu Gouranga, a senior student of Hariprasad Chaurasia, playing bamboo flute. Ananta Nitai and Bhakta Gauranga from the local temple kirtan band completed the group.

The next day was Radhastami, the holy birthday of Shri Radha, Lord Krishna’s eternal companion. Early in the day, after a thunderous morning kirtan, we got to do a special thank you kirtan for all of the staff of ‘Govinda’s’. This on-site restaurant serves hundreds of delicious dishes daily, including stone baked pizza that has an incredibly Italian flavour (almost unheard of in India). During our stay the staff had served us every day, doing everything possible to make us comfortable and cared for. Now we joined with them in singing the names of Krishna and Radha, who is the patron goddess of all who cook for Lord Krishna.

Later in the day, there was time for a few more hours of kirtan, as the deities were ceremonially bathed with susbstances such as coconut water, honey and fresh fruit juice. Hands were raised, bodies whirled, and every voice called out with great sincerity and joyful abandon, especially when Radhanath Swami joined us in leading the kirtan. We knew we had to leave at 9pm to make our flight back to London. By 9.20, we were still in the thick of the kirtan – we couldn’t even see the doorway and the balconies on either side of the room were packed with bodies. By 9.30, we had to drag ourselves away, completely overwhelmed by the spiritual mood of the day, and the incredible devotional attitude of everyone we came into contact with during the magical two weeks.

After driving for an hour, we reached the city oasis of the Radha Gopinath Temple, where we’d be staying for the next two weeks. The temple is a beautifully designed masterpiece of sandstone and carved wood, set amidst inner city apartment blocks. The main shrine upstairs boasts an amazing floor inlaid with semi-precious stones, what to speak of the deities of Radha Gopinath, so lovingly cared for by the temple monks and congregation.

The main event of our stay was the book launch of ‘The Journey Home: Autobiography of a American Swami’ by His Holiness Radhanath Swami. This book tells the story of a young American man’s journey through 1970s Europe and India, striving to find spiritual truth, and above all, a guru. After some incredible, often hair-raising adventures, that man eventually became Radhanath Swami, the founder and spiritual guide of the Radha Gopinath Temple.

We spent many days rehearsing at the offices of Swati Piramal, the mastermind and artistic director of the book launch. She’d put in many weeks of meticulous planning and organising for the event,  and we all wanted to do our best to make the evening a success. In between rehearsals, we had several newspaper interviews and photoshoots (often having to dress a bit Bollywood to make the media happy!), and even had an appearance on Radio Mirchi, Mumbai’s most popular radio station. The charismatic DJ, known as Jeeturaj (though no one knows his real name) has a huge influence on the youth of Mumbai through his daily show – if he says something is hot, it’s hot. He was very eccentric, but a lot of fun too, and he was completely amazed to learn that all of the band members had been born of devotee parents. When he learned that all the girls knew how to put on saris and that we could all sing in Sanskrit, he almost fell off his chair, proclaiming us ‘totally cool yaar!’

The book launch was an exciting evening, and despite a few technical hitches like Gaura’s guitar breaking 10 minutes before the curtain went up, and the sound man falling asleep in the middle of the show – everything went smoothly. The children of the temple community school, ‘Gopal’s Garden’, performed a fantastic abridged musical of the book, and we followed with our portion – bhajans from the ‘Ten Million Moons’ album, intertwined with passages read from the book by Radhanath Swami. Many influential Mumbai residents attended, including Bollywood star, Juhi Chawla, who came up after the show to thank us profusely, especially for ‘Krishna Murari (Mama Mana Mandire)’.

Sadly, that night Acyuta, Ananta and Janaki had to leave to make it back to work in New York on Monday morning. Gaura and I still had one more week to go, and many more adventures to come…

At other times we loaded into a flatbed pickup truck and drove to other areas of the ‘playa’ to chant and dance in different spaces. In between, we spent time at base camp, the ‘Krishna camp/24 Hour Kitchen’. The Krishna camp at Burning Man is headed up by Nitai Das, a dedicated and inventive manager, who also helps to organise the 24 Hour Kirtan in New Vrindavan, West Virginia, as well as many other events throughout the year. Along with his team of builders, carpenters, artists and cooks, he tries to give ‘Burners’ a taste of kirtan and Krishna culture amidst the craziness every year. Here we helped cook and prepare meals for several hundred people, who arrived twice daily and spent time listening to kirtan from our beautifully constructed stage.

As always, it was intense. Dust storms abounded and nights were loud and late – mornings hot and busy. Inbetween all of the chaos, were moments of true joy and friendship, as Burners from all backgrounds joined us in chanting and dancing, always in true Burning Man style -sometimes clothed, sometimes not!

We left after four days, exhausted and a little sunburnt, but happy. Next stop on the road was a jump in Lake Tahoe and a three hour laundromat excursion – the dusty Burning Man experience is hard to forget in more ways than one!

After many weeks touring in the US, we travelled to England for the world renowned Janmashtami (Krishna’s birthday) festival. This celebration is held all over the world, but this one continues to be the biggest outside India, with almost 70,000 attending this year. Colourful tents and stages are set up over the 80 acre property of Bhaktivedanta Manor (donated by George Harrison in the 1970s), and worshippers flock to see the ornately decorated altar.

We felt such a strong sense of unity as we all joined together to celebrate the festival, and had many hours of joyful, moving kirtan together. When we did kirtan on the main festival stage, I’d look out and see the most incredible variety of people – from close family and friends of all ages, to local villagers, to Gujarati grannies (who we actually got to clap and sing – much to our surprise).

It was also nice for me to get to show the rest of the band around my hometown a little bit, though most of our days were packed with kirtan engagements! One day we got to go sightseeing, and ended up at the temple of Sri Sri Radha London-isvara (Krishna, the Lord of London!), where we had many hours of soul-stirring kirtan with our dear friend from Switzerland, Madhava.

Our brief stay culminated in a final Sunday stage kirtan, after which we were whisked out to the car park and driven straight to the airport to fly to Mumbai, where we would be performing a kirtan concert for a special launch of Radhanath Swami’s book ‘The Journey Home’.

October 10th 2009

This autumn, leaves will fall from the trees and blessings will fall from the heavens at the New Vrindaban 24 Hour Kirtan Festival in the mountains of West Virginia.

Hundreds gather to chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra continuously for 24 hours, as is done in Vrindavan India 365 days a year.

In the holy month of Kartika, spiritual practices are magnified thousands of times, drawing pilgrims from across the globe to Vrindavan.
Now in New Vrindaban that seasonable opportunity is being made available to you.

Featuring some of the world’s most respected Bhakti chanters, the festival is open to all.

Who’s Singing?

Currently confirmed artists are Badahari das (Florida), Ajamila das (Toronto), Jagannath Kirtan das (Florida), Sugosh das (New Orleans), Bhakti Lata Bija dasi (Florida) Keshavacarya das (NYC) with many others about to confirm. Due

Dates

October 10th – 11st 2009. Kirtans start at 12 PM Saturday the 10th and ends 12 PM Sunday the 11st.

Resident spiritual teacher Varsana Swami will be speaking on The Appearance of Radha Kunda, the most confidential of pilgrimage places.

Family, friends, and all lovers of singing, dancing and heart-warming kinship are invited to join us for this first ever Kartika 24 Hour Kirtan Festival in New Vrindaban!

Tickets

The Kirtan is free! However, lodging and prasadam have its costs.  We have made a one price fee for the event.

The following is the rate is for the weekend.

Lodging & meals: $75

Cabins: $351

Click here to Register !

KIRTAN & YOGA

Dec. 27, 2009 – Jan. 2, 2010

Transform and Rock Out with Gopi and Gaura Vani

Featuring a mega New Year’s Eve party with Jai Uttal and Shiva Rea.

Click here for the Application Form

Special Reduced Pricing – ONLY $975  (previously $1,579) CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

We’ve found very well priced flights from Mexicana.com. Click hear to look for tickets.

Bring in the New Year with this empowering and rejuvenating week of deep, healing Yoga with Gopi, accompanied by Gaura Vani and the transformative and uplifting sounds of sacred Kirtan.  Read More…

After a long period in Los Angeles, we traveled to San Francisco for a very special event arranged by our friend, Andrew Zenoff. He is a recently converted kirtan addict, and had been thinking hard for a while as to how he could share his passion with others. He came up with the idea of the ‘Bhakti Bar’ – and evening of kirtan in a supportive environment, where ‘people of all practices, musical orientations, faiths, traditions, and ages can gather to sing, dance, chant, share, create and lift their hearts and get drunk on the joys of devotion’.

The debut Bhakti Bar evening was held at the Swedish American Hall in downtown San Francisco – a charming, old fashioned concert hall that proved both intimate as well as spacious enough to hold the hundreds that attended.

The evening overflowed with sweet and soulful kirtan as Tina Malia, MC Yogi, Jai Uttal and As Kindred Spirits took to the stage.

The next day we all went to Jai Uttal’s house to hang out with him, MC Yogi and Robin and a few other kirtan lovers. Jai pulled some interesting instruments and we had some sweet kirtan.

After the fun of the trance dance at Zanzibar, we were eager for our next evening with Shiva, MC Yogi and DJ Drez. This time we were at Yoga Glo, a very big yoga studio in Santa Monica that doubles as a studio to film yoga classes in HD quality. These are then sent out online to a large community practising yoga at home. Our evening of kirtan was filmed also.

It was exciting to see many of the same faces as we’d been seeing at other events in LA – they claimed they were hooked and couldn’t miss the chance to come and chant and dance in kirtan again!

To celebrate the final night of a teacher training course being run by Shiva Rea in Los Angeles, we were invited to come and play alongside MC Yogi and DJ Drez at a hip downtown club called Zanzibar. It was a beautiful venue, decorated in an ornate Middle Eastern style. In the green room we were surprised to find framed paintings of Radha and Krishna and took it as a good sign!

By opening time the crowds were streaming in, many of whom were just coming for their regular Friday club night. Many stopped us to ask questions as we finished setting up, wondering what we were doing, and if we had ‘come from India?’

The night was a real success. Shiva got the crowd warmed up and ready to dance with some kriya yoga, and then MC Yogi launched into a set of all his well known songs like ‘Rock On Hanuman’, ‘Bhakti Boombox’, and Ganesh is Fresh.’ The crowd went wild as he began the famous lines of ‘Krishna Love’ (Sri Krishna, you’re pure charisma, your flute playing – so intoxicating).

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits were featured in the music section of the Boston Globe on September 18th 2009. The article ran in the printed paper as well as their website.

Born in Los Angeles, Vani was sent to India at a young age to study sacred music by his Hare Krishna parents. Upon completing his studies he returned to the States, where he began combining spiritual Indian kirtans – a form of rhythmic, call-and-response chanting over various musical accompaniments – with the other music of his youth: rock, pop, and world music.

“Spiritual music is a living tradition . . . from ‘Johnny B. Goode’ to the Bad Brains,’’ says Vani. “It grows and is alive. The music we make is just a natural progression of that.’’

Read the entire article here.

Our apologizes for taking so long to get theses up. While traveling it’s almost impossible to find the time to edit the kirtans.  For those of you who don’t know, it takes around 4.5 hours of editing/rendering/conforming/uploading/posting time per 2 hour show. So without further ado…

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

	Washington DC Ratha Yatra 7/4/09 01 Gaura Vani - Guru Gauranga Jayate (253) 02 Gaura Vani - Hey Gopal (236) 03 Gaura Vani - Jiv Jago (225) 04 Acyuta Gopi - Hare Krishna (309) 05 Visvambhar - Hare Krishna (438) 06 Manu - Gaura Nityananda Bol (211)
	Jivamukti NYC 7/15/09 01 Gaura Vani - Guru Gauranga Jayate (145) 02 Gaura Vani - Siksastakam (195) 03 Gaura Vani - Krishna Murari (171) 04 Visvambhar - Jai Govinda Garbha (216)
	Toronto Ratha Yatra 7/19/09 01 Gaura Vani - Ayodhya Vasi Ram (236) 02 Bada Hari - Hare Krishna (299) 03 Visvambhar - Nitai Gauranga (331) 04 Gaura Vani - Krishna Murari (176)
	Bhaktivana (Lawrence Kansas) 7/21/09 01 Gaura Vani - Hare Krishna (211) 02 Gaura Vani - Hare Krishna (176) 03 Bada Hari - Sri Rama Jaya Rama (177) 04 Jahnavi - Hare Krishna - Bhaktivana Kansas (295) 05 Gaura Vani - Krishna Murari (142)
	Radha Damodar Mandir (Denver) 7/22/09 01 Visvambhar - Gaura Haribol (274) 02 Gaura Vani - Radhe Radhe Govinda (176) 03 Visvambhar - Jaya Radhe Jaya Krishna (334) 04 Bada Hari - Hare Krishna (232) 05 Gaura Vani - Krishna Murari (138)
	Exhale Spa with Saul David Raye 7/28/09 01 Gaura Vani - Mama Mana Mandire (182) 02 Gaura Vani - Bolo Ram (384) 03 Gaura Vani - Sita Ram (121) 04 Instrumental (311) 05 Gaura Vani - Govinda Gopala (133)
	Yoga Glo with Shiva Rea and MC Yogi 8/7/09 01 Gaura Vani - Radhe Radhe Govinda (378) 02 MC Yogi - Ganesh Is Fresh (141) 03 MC Yogi - Jaya Ganesh (116) 04 MC Yogi - Shiva Shambo (144) 05 MC Yogi - Rock On Hanuman (213) 06 MC Yogi - Go Hanuman Go (409) 07 Gaura Vani - Hare Krishna (400) 08 Gaura Vani - Sri Krishna Govinda (364)
	Bhaktivedanta Manor (UK) Janmastami 8/14-15-16/09 01 Madhava - Hare Krishna (677) 02 Gaura Vani - Jaya Radha Gokulananda (523) 03 Gaura Vani - Hare Krishna (474) 04 Acyuta Gopi - Hare Krishna (469) 05 Ananta Govinda - Hare Krishna (399) 06 Jaggi Suta - Hare Krishna (456) 07 Acyuta Gopi - Hare Krishna (438) 08 Gaura Vani And Madhava - Hare Krishna (1897) 09 Madhava - Hare Krishna (1266) 10 Acyuta Gopi - Hare Krishna (1034) 11 Tulasi - Hare Krishna (1390) 12 Acyuta Gopi - Hare Krishna (1164) 13 Ananta Govinda - Hare Krishna (1276) 14 Gaura Vani - Uti Uti Gopala (1224) 15 Gaura Vani - Hare Krishna (1608) 16 Madhava - Hare Krishna (1499) 17 Madhava - Hare Krishna (2827)

We’ve been in California for just over two weeks now, spreading kirtan in the sunshine state. Our first kirtan was at Urban Yoga in Palm Springs, where we were invited by the owner, Kristen, to attend a pre ‘Bhaktifest’ (link) event. It was a great night. Everyone chanted with energy and enthusiasm, and we ended in an uproarious circle dance, chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.

Since then, we’ve been busy chanting at different venues, including Exhale yoga studio in Santa Monica, Bhakti Yoga Shala, ISKCON Los Angeles and the Ford Theater for KuliMela, and at the 37th Annual Festival of Chariots on Venice Beach. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to get to know many new friends here, and reach out to so many budding fans of kirtan.

After our kirtan with Shiva Rea at Kripalu, she invited us to the Wanderlust festival, a big celebration of both yoga and music in the beautiful ski resort of Squaw Valley, California.

We were only able to attend for the first day of the three day event, arriving at 2am and leaving the next morning at 6am. Still, it was a great day. We played for two yoga classes with Shiva, and in the evning, took to the stage at the Yoga Tree tent with Jai Uttal. Afterwards we had fun joining the audience for our friend, MC Yogi’s performance with another newfound friend -DJ Drez.

‘This must be some kind of hell,’ someone complained. We were all hot, tired and after fifteen hours of driving, pretty cranky. We piled back in and continued driving. Suddenly, the landscape changed dramatically.Vast stretches of white salt lakes spread out in every direct – almost blinding in the bright sunlight.

‘Hey we should do a photoshoot,’ shouted Rasa from the back. ‘Pull over!’

Before any of us knew what was going on, Gaura veered off the road and into the sand of the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was only a matter of seconds before we realized the wheels had become complete stuck. In the searing heat of the day, we were stranded. Fortunately, we had some kirtan power on our side. Chanting mantras and using all our strength, we managed to unhook the trailer and lever it out of the sand.

‘Ok guys, get out your clothes, we’re still doing a photoshoot’, said Rasa, who’d been happily taking photos of us pushing the van. After a little protesting, we realized we might as well make the most of the opportunity, and got busy jumping and posing. Passing drivers must have been taken aback at the sight of eight people holding strange instruments and dressed in Indian clothes, jumping crazily around in the sand.

Before we packed up and continued to Tahoe, we decided to take one last shot of us all pretending to hitchhike. We didn’t expect anyone to actually stop, but only three minutes after we stuck out our thumbs, a big truck pulled over, offering to tow us to safety! He drove off again, looking more than a little confused and holding a copy of Ten Million Moons.

Many people turned up to sing with us, most of whom have been introduced to kirtan through the yoga classes run by Gopi in her home studio. We were fortunate to be joined again by Bada Hari, who lead a powerful kirtan in praise of Lord Rama. The glorious sound was complete with Purusartha on electric bass, and Jaya Sita’s emotive cello playing. We were also lucky to have Prtha and Nadia, two Bharatanatyam dancers from the Bhaktikalalayam dance academy in Alachua, Florida, who performed an electrifying routine to ‘My Body Is A Temple (Krishna Murari)’.

After marveling at the star filled Kansas sky, it was time for bed. We would need to leave very early to continue our drive – another ‘all dayer’ to Denver.

Almost fifteen hours later, we parked up outside Gaura’s childhood home, opposite the Denver temple. He hadn’t been back for over twenty years, and he exclaimed at how small everything looked.

There were just a couple of hours to rest until our evening kirtan concert within the temple. We were scheduled to begin after a Bhagavat Saptah reading – a type of narrative recitation describing the activities of the Divine, accompanied by music. Hundreds of people had come to attend the reading, and as it ended, they all danced and chanted with abandon, celebrating the pastime they had just listened to about the birth of Lord Krishna. Many stayed on for our kirtan and eagerly continued to chant.

We left late, packing everything up and stopping for a quick van cleanup at a gas station. The next day was to be the longest drive yet – over 24 hours to Lake Tahoe.

N.B. We apologise for not posting any recordings right now. We are recording all shows, but because we are on the road, we have limited facility for editing and uploading. Please stay tuned!

Next we drove to Albany, NY for a workshop with our friend Shiva Rea at the Kripalu yoga centre.

From there we traveled straight to Toronto, only stopping to drop off our trusty trailer before we crossed the border. We were invited to come and participate in the 37th annual Toronto Festival of Chariots, as well as its sister event called ‘Yoga Meltdown’. An ongoing city workers’ strike meant that the normal, secluded venue of Centre Island was completely inaccessible, but nevertheless, the festival organizers worked even harder and put on a dynamic event on the harbor front.

A diverse crowd attended on both days, enjoying the delicious feast, yoga classes, cooking demonstrations and entertainment. Of course, the best part of the event was the non-stop kirtan in the specially dedicated tent.

Today marks the end of our first week on the road. It has been driving so much every day has been tiring, but we continue to be enlivened by the  enthusiastic response to kirtan everywhere we go. Now we head for Lawrence, Kansas – another stop on the way to the Wanderlust festival in Lake Tahoe, California, where we will be performing with Shiva Rea and Jai Uttal.

N.B. We apologise for not posting any recordings right now. We are recording all shows, but because we are on the road, we have limited facility for editing and uploading. Please stay tuned!