October 9, 1966 : New York
Satsvarupa: Tompkins Square Park was the park on the Lower East Side. The Lower East Side was an essential part of the mystique. It was not just a dirty slum; it was the best place in the world to conduct the experiment in consciousness. For all its filth and threat of violence and the confined life of its brownstone tenements, the Lower East Side was still the forefront of the revolution in mind expansion. Into this chaotic pageant Srila Prabhupada entered with his followers and sat down to hold a kirtana. Three or four devotees who arrived ahead of him selected an open area of the park, and began playing karatals and chanting Hare Krishna.
Meanwhile Srila Prabhupada, accompanied by half a dozen disciples, was walking the eight blocks from the storefront. The kirtana had been going for about ten minutes when Srila Prabhupada arrived. Stepping out of his white rubber slippers, just as if he were home in the temple, he sat down on the rug with his followers under an elm tree. Then he began clapping his hands heavily as he continued counting, "One... two... three." The karatals followed, at first with wrong beats, but he kept the rhythm by clapping his hands, and then they got it, clapping hands, clashing cymbals artlessly to a slow, steady beat.
Then he began the mantra - Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Prabhupada played his small drum, holding its strap in his left hand, bracing the drum against his body, and with his right hand playing intricate mridanga rhythms. Prabhupada motioned to his disciples, and they got up and began dancing. More of his disciples began dancing, and even a few hippies got up and tried it. His disciples stayed close by him, sitting on the same rug, religious ecstasy visible in their eyes. And so it went for hours. Participants chanted for two hours as they danced and played cymbals, tambourines, and other percussive instruments; the event is considered as the founding of the Hare Krishna movement in the Western World.
Meanwhile Srila Prabhupada, accompanied by half a dozen disciples, was walking the eight blocks from the storefront. The kirtana had been going for about ten minutes when Srila Prabhupada arrived. Stepping out of his white rubber slippers, just as if he were home in the temple, he sat down on the rug with his followers under an elm tree. Then he began clapping his hands heavily as he continued counting, "One... two... three." The karatals followed, at first with wrong beats, but he kept the rhythm by clapping his hands, and then they got it, clapping hands, clashing cymbals artlessly to a slow, steady beat.
Then he began the mantra - Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Prabhupada played his small drum, holding its strap in his left hand, bracing the drum against his body, and with his right hand playing intricate mridanga rhythms. Prabhupada motioned to his disciples, and they got up and began dancing. More of his disciples began dancing, and even a few hippies got up and tried it. His disciples stayed close by him, sitting on the same rug, religious ecstasy visible in their eyes. And so it went for hours. Participants chanted for two hours as they danced and played cymbals, tambourines, and other percussive instruments; the event is considered as the founding of the Hare Krishna movement in the Western World.
Reference: Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta Volume 2 - Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
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