Kinnara School of Music

[5] Among the students at Kinnara was Beatles guitarist George Harrison, who received sitar tuition from Shankar and Shambhu Das in Mumbai in late 1966.

[6][7] During a visit to London that year, Shankar said that, given the widespread fascination for Indian music at the time, he was concerned that "people who don't really understand the sitar will cash in on the sudden interest" by offering newcomers lessons on the instrument.

[10][11] Other students attending the Los Angeles centre included Robby Krieger[12] and John Densmore of the Doors,[13] and American musicians Russ Titelman[14] and Colin Walcott.

[18] When opening the school there, he emphasised the need to recognise the sacred aspect of Indian classical music,[19] which was defined by Allauddin Khan's phrase "Nada Brahma" ("Sound is God").

[21] He said that in many cases, as with his concert audiences in the United States,[22] their motives were based on the misconception that Indian music was allied with the hippie movement's espousal of hallucinogenic drugs and free love.