After arriving in Britain, the three couples lived in separate accommodation across London and struggled financially. They met to perform their missionary activities – which included kirtans (public chanting), attending notable public events, the distribution of promotional leaflets in busy areas such as Oxford Street, and the cultivation of new members. Having previously relied on the generosity of the local Indian community, they eventually settled in a warehouse complex in Covent Garden, which also served as their temporary temple. Malati later recalled of this early period in England: “[We had] hardly any possessions, no money, no protection. It often got very cold … All we had was love for Srila Prabhupada.”

To gain wider recognition for their message, Shyamsundar had the idea of meeting the Beatles and asking them to introduce the Hare Krishna mantra, or Maha Mantra, into their songs. 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, the Beatle most interested in Indian philosophy and culture. The following month, the devotees’ public appearances in Oxford Street received national attention in London’s Times newspaper. The article carried a quote from Gurudas that read: “Hare Krishna is a chant that sets God dancing on your tongue. Try chanting ‘Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth’ and see the difference.”

With Harrison busy finishing the band’s double album The Beatles and then undertaking a two-month trip to America, the meeting between him and Shyamsundar took place at Apple in December. Harrison was aware of the devotees of Krishna, having first experienced kirtana while in Vrindavan in September 1966; he had also enjoyed Prabhupada’s album ‘Krishna Consciousness’ and had begun chanting the Maha Mantra, sometimes with John Lennon. When they met in December 1968, Harrison greeted Shyamsundar with the words: “Hare Krishna. Where have you been? I’ve been waiting [years] to meet you.”

Harrison subsequently visited the devotees at their warehouse. At a time when he felt a degree of isolation within the Beatles, following his bandmates’ mixed experiences on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation course in Rishikesh, India, Harrison told the devotees, “I’m inspired here.” 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, and the devotees became regular visitors to both his house in Surrey and the Apple offices.

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 mrdanga, 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. The 11 October issue of the New Musical Express announced that, in addition to supporting the rock band Humble Pie at London's Royal Festival Hall, the Radha-Krishna Temple would be performing eleven concerts at the Holborn Conway Hall between 15 October and 22 December, for which audiences were encouraged to bring their own musical instruments and participate. The same report said that further performances were scheduled in Oxford, at the Revolution Club in London, and in Amsterdam.The Temple devotees went on to play 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."

George gifted it to ISKCON, and it eventually became the headquarters of ISKCON in the UK. Srila Prabhupada went there regularly to spend time with devotees. He said of George, “Because he has given shelter to Krishna by providing this temple, Krishna will surely provide shelter for him.” Just before Srila Prabhupada left this world in 1977, he removed a ring from his right hand and told the disciples around him, “This is for George. Give it to him.”

In 1978 Sri Sri Radha-Londonishvara, Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra Devi, and Gaura-Nitai moved from Bury Place to a six-story building in Soho Street, just off Oxford Street, where They still reside.

One of the distinctive features of the Radha-Krishna Temple in Soho Street is that, although not the largest of temples, it is right in the center of the city, next to Europe’s busiest shopping street. This provides great potential for outreach, with thousands of shoppers and passers-by daily.

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