It was founded in Bury Place, Bloomsbury, by six devotees from San Francisco's Radha-Krishna Temple, who were sent by ISKCON leader A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to establish a UK branch of the movement in 1968.

With Harrison's financial support, the Radha-Krishna Temple secured its first permanent premises, at Bury Place in central London, then acquired a country property in Hertfordshire, known as Bhaktivedanta Manor.

As founder and acharya (leader) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada established the first Radha-Krishna Temple in New York in 1966, followed by a branch in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco.

[1] One of the devotees, Shyamsundar Das, later explained that "The scene, the centre of activity, was shifting from San Francisco to London [in 1968]", and that the 72-year-old[4] Prabhupada was drawn to having a base in the United Kingdom due to his upbringing as "an Indian in the British Empire".

[1] In October 1966, Shyamsundar and Malati had been working for the US Forest Service in Oregon at a fire lookout post when Mukunda and Janaki visited them and awakened their interest in Prabhupada's Gaudiya Vaishnava teachings.

[1] Before joining the Hare Krishna movement, Gurudas had spent five years in Alabama as one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s human rights supporters and then worked among San Francisco's underprivileged communities.

[14] In October 1968, Mukunda and Shyamsundar went to the band's Apple Records offices, on Savile Row, where Peter Asher subsequently passed a recommendation on to George Harrison,[15] the Beatle most interested in Indian philosophy and culture.

[27] At a time when he felt a degree of isolation within the Beatles,[28] following his bandmates' mixed experiences on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation course in Rishikesh, India, Harrison told the devotees, "I'm inspired here.

"[29][30] He introduced Shyamsundar to the other Beatles in January 1969, in an effort to curb the friction that enveloped the band during their film project Let It Be,[31] and the devotees became regular visitors to both his house in Surrey[32] and the Apple offices.

[43][44] Released by Apple Records in August,[45] and credited to Radha-Krishna Temple (London),[36] "Hare Krishna Mantra" peaked at number 12 on the UK's national singles chart[46] and was a commercial success around the world.

[55] 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,[32] who had written: "One day, the chanting of the holy names of God will be heard in every town and village of the world.

[57] For this purpose, Mukunda found a seven-storey[13] premises at 7 Bury Place, close to the British Museum in London's Bloomsbury area, for which Harrison was co-signee on the lease[33] and helped fund.

[47] Gurudas has spoken of the problems the devotees experienced, with complaints being made against them by their former neighbours, and objections being raised by members of the community at Bury Place, and that it was only through Harrison's guarantee that they were able to secure the new site.

[58] With the building in a state of disrepair,[13] Lennon offered the Temple devotees temporary accommodation on his recently purchased estate, Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot,[59] while renovations were underway at Bury Place.

[63][64] Held in a former recital hall in the grounds of Tittenhurst Park, Prabhupada's meeting with the two Beatles and Yoko Ono, Lennon's wife, led to a philosophical discussion about topics such as the Bhagavad Gita, mantras and Krishna.

[71][nb 2] As a result, Prabhupada's followers "outstayed their welcome" at Lennon's home, according to author Alan Clayson,[72] while Joshua Greene writes of the devotees later recalling "few … friendly exchanges with their hosts" there, compared to the warm relationship they shared with Harrison.

[82][83] When Prabhupada heard Harrison's orchestrated version of the Govindam prayers for the first time, in Radha-Krishna Temple (London)'s 1970 single "Govinda", he was moved to tears and asked for the song to be played every morning during the daily greeting of the deities,[84] or darshan arati.

[46] Greene has written of the devotees "jok[ing] about a Harrison Bat-Light", whereby, in a scenario akin to the comic-book stories of Batman, the Beatles' guitarist would summon his Krishna friends at a moment's notice, and "off they would go on another adventure".

[94] Amid a chaotic press conference at Maxim's restaurant,[95] this gesture increased Harrison's public affiliation with the movement,[96] as did his financing of Prabhupada's 400-page book Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,[47] for which he also wrote a foreword.

[13][97] That same spring, Harrison invited three families from the London temple to stay at his newly purchased Oxfordshire estate, Friar Park,[98][99] where they helped restore the property's parkland and formal gardens.

[61] The devotees' arrival at Friar Park sated Harrison's love of chanting[100] and inspired themes on his first post-Beatles solo album, All Things Must Pass (1970),[101][102] but left his wife, Pattie Boyd, feeling increasingly isolated.

[125] From Marble Arch and ending at Trafalgar Square via Piccadilly,[124] the acharya walked the whole route, dancing and chanting in front of a chariot carrying the deities of Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra.