As a director of Apple, Harrison valued the record label as a means to working with acts other than the Beatles. In July 1969, he invited the devotees to Abbey Road Studios to make a recording of the Maha Mantra for release as a single. Harrison produced and performed on the song, for which Mukunda provided the musical arrangement and played mridanga, and Yamuna and Shyamsundar served as lead vocalists. Malati, Janaki, Gurudas and others joined in as chorus singers, in addition to playing percussive instruments such as kartal.
Released by Apple Records in August, and credited to Radha Krishna Temple (London), "Hare Krishna Mantra" peaked at number 12 on the UK's national singles chart and was a commercial success around the world. The devotees twice performed the song on BBC-TV's Top of the Pops and played a series of concerts across Europe to meet public demand. Mukunda later said: "We went from street people to celebrity status. Overnight."
Aided by the association with Harrison, the single established the ancient mantra in the cultural mainstream, while also attracting many new members to ISKCON's centres. For the growing London branch, this achievement was accompanied by a more tolerant attitude from a previously wary public. In addition, in the Gaudiya Vaishnava faith, the international popularity of the Temple's recording was viewed as the fulfilment of a prediction by the Hare Krishna movement's sixteenth-century avatar, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who had written: "One day, the chanting of the holy names of God will be heard in every town and village of the world." -From Wikipedia
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