Mayuri Gandharvika

Mayuri Gandharvika, also known as Mayuri Gandharvika Priya Dasi, leads Hare Krishna kirtan and sings Vaishnava bhajans. She is a third-generation devotee from New Jersey, and she grew up singing in the Hare Krishna temple community there.

She trained in Hindustani classical singing from childhood. Her kirtan heroes were close to home: Tulasi Priti Devi Dasi and Namarasa Das at her local temple, and Acyuta Gopi Devi Dasi with the Radha Govinda Mandali of New York City. Her guru, Indradyumna Swami, gave her a place at the Sadhu Sanga Kirtan Retreat, North America's largest kirtan gathering. She was the youngest devotee ever to lead kirtan on that stage.

Much of what she sings is her own. She composes melodies at the harmonium, often working them out with her father, and she has set old Bengali and Sanskrit prayers to new tunes. One recording presents the bhajan Gauranga Tumi More in the style of a ghazal; another, Nanda Nandan Ashtakam, uses a melody inspired by Shri Indresh Upadhyay Ji.

She now leads kirtan at the big festivals of the American Hare Krishna calendar. In 2025 she sang at Kirtan50 in Dallas, Capital Kirtan at ISKCON of D.C., New York Kirtan Mela during the Ratha-Yatra weekend, and Kirtan Love Fest at ISKCON of Central Jersey. In 2026 she returned to Sadhu Sanga, held that year in New Orleans.

Her recordings reach far beyond the hall. Her YouTube channel has about 58,000 subscribers, and Spotify lists 28 of her releases, the newest Nanda Nandan Ashtakam in September 2026.

Mayuri Gandharvika sits at the harmonium in the middle of her musicians, with mridanga, kartals and often a violin around her, and the room sits on the floor close by. She sings a line and everyone answers. Her kirtans tend to open slowly: at Sadhu Sanga 2026 she began with a meditative melody based on Raag Mishra Shivranjani, then lifted the room with a festive tune. Many of the melodies are her own, so even devotees who know every word hear something new. Young devotees often fill the front rows and sing along.