By Mother Gopi Gita  On Tuesday, October 17, Gopi Gita Schomaker, aka Mother Gopi Gita, Founder of Leadership Parenting, presented a western song, bhakti mantras and Leadership Parenting to a full concert hall at the Portland House of Music. This was the culmination of many months of internal work. A live band with drums, two guitars, keyboard, trumpets and more, accompanied the performance. Gopi Gita is a leader in ISKCON, coaches parents and educators internationally, and has served children directly in the classroom for over 20 years. We have included her reflect ..read more

By Madhava Smullen  The London Radha Krishna Temple’s own non-profit label, Radha Krishna Records – founded in 2009 and dedicated to spiritual mantra music – has released Volume 4 in its popular Mantra Lounge series.  The nine-track album features an incredible lineup of international mantra artists, singing heartfelt and meditative chants for the Lord against a layered soundscape of gorgeous instrumentation.  The songs include Above and Beyond – Hare Krishna by Radhika Das; Harer Nama – Touchstone by Dhanya; Purify Me – Sri Nama-Kirtana by Kal Key; and Radhika Stava – Seed of ..read more

By Madhava Smullen  A soulful new single by gurukuli Hari Kirtan Kaufmann, featuring Lilashakti Sesanti and Vrindavan Favors, blends Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami’s Bengali bhajan “Sri Vraja Dhama Mahimamrta” with English spoken word poetry to deeply moving effect. The epic 9-minute track, with its strikingly artistic music video featuring performances from international devotee artists, captures the feeling of hankering after Vrindavan Dhama and devotee association during the pandemic, and the lifelong journey towards giving oneself completely to Lord Krishna. Music has been a major pa ..read more

It is clearly sandal weather. Only the evening is enticing for the outdoors so I hibernated inside most of the day engaged in chanting, delivering classes, reading, poetry writing, eating (and napping after that). Several initiatives took up a portion of the day such as preparation for the next MANtra retreat (for November 12, 13, 14) and planning for this year’s garden/farm conference. The evening reading was from the Chaitanya Charitamrta (the CC) and the story was about the interaction between the Islamic leader, Chand Kazi, and Vedic monk Chaitanya. History tells that one day the leader ..read more

By Kamala Radha Devi Dasi  Jahnavi Harrison released her latest single, “Divine Maha-mantra” on March 28th (Gaura Purnima). This latest offering will be the artist’s 4th single release since her 2015 album Like a River to the Sea. Jahnavi Harrison was raised in a family of Bhakti-yoga practitioners at Bhaktivedanta Manor, one of England’s most important spiritual landmarks. As a child she was fascinated with song and story, and has nurtured that interest through her life long exploration of music, dance, visual art and the written word. She is a musician who aims to channel her creati ..read more

Listen Here! (Friday, November 20th– Los Angeles, CA)— Double-platinum recording artist, WILLOW, and British musician Jahnavi Harrison release their brand-new collaboration R I S E today! The six track EP featuring timeless Sanskrit mantras and original lyrics inspired by sacred texts of the bhakti tradition.  Listen to R I S E here! In the search for a deeper connection and inner calm, WILLOW and Jahnavi have combined their musical influences to create a spiritual, meditative and uplifting collection of art. Layering soulful vocals with subtle instrumentation, t ..read more

  By Madhava Smullen The first annual UP Devotional Arts & Film Festival, which took place on March 8th at Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi Auditorium in Mayapur, focused on screening music videos by devotee artists from around the world.  UP stands for “unpublished.” “Just as we don’t eat food we are about to offer to the Deities, we wanted to present a collective untouched offering to Srila Prabhupada, Pancha Tattva and Sri Sri Radha Madhava,” says organizer Gour Govinda Das, a Croatian devotee with 20 years of experience as a professional photographer and filmmaker.  T ..read more

By Madhava Smullen  For devotees and spiritual people looking for devotional music in a different genre than kirtan, but just as transformational, Russian husband-and-wife duo Nilambary’s debut album, the lush film-score-like “Eternal Prayers,” could be the answer. The record is out on February 10th. And from the sweeping strings of opener “Mangalacarana” to the classy swing of “Jiv Jago,” to the cleansing, pure chorus of “Tulasi,” to the thumping crescendo of closer “Sita Ram,” it’s a skillful orchestral offering that goes beyond album to full-on spiritual experience.  Both Nil ..read more

The United Nations' (UN) Universal Children's Day, which was established in 1954, is celebrated on November 20 each year to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide. On this day, the newly established ‘King of Braj’ a music band consisting of Hungarian devotees — musicians, teachers, social activists, marketing specialists from Eger and Budapest — in collaboration with Krishna- sympathizer and well-known hip-hop and reggae artists released its firs album entitled as ‘This Is How I Rebel’. “We have been instinctively drawn to the ‘rebel’ genres, such as regg ..read more

  By Madhava Smullen    The third album proper from Srikala – once known as Srikalogy – is a major evolution musically, lyrically and personally for the artist. Released on July 16th, “Beautiful Dark Moon” is an entrancing blend of R&B, hip-hop and world music, slower, softer and with more singing than previous rap-heavy efforts Kirtan Sessions and New Paradigm. It’s also not afraid to explore vulnerable personal themes and spiritual struggle. The title is a literal translation of the artist’s full name, Sri Kala Chandra Das, a name for Krishna given to him by his spiritu ..read more