The Band

Temple Bhajan Band

The Temple Bhajan Band performed at the Pacific Design Theatre in West Hollywood (Blue Whale) for the judges of the Hollywood Spiritual Film and Entertainment Festival. Srita Kamala from the Mantra Yoga CD was awarded "Best Devotional Song" for the 6 month festival.

In the picture (From the left front row) :
Eddie Young, Sura Dasa, Christo Pellani, Marty Lieberman, Lila Padma, Deepak Ramapriyan, Lokah bhakti, Mikano Fukaya

Sura Dasa

Sura is the lead singer and organizer of The Temple Bhajan Band. He plays harmonium and plans all of the events for the band. In his college days he used to play folk music in coffee houses in the midwest, and has transfered that propensity to kirtan and mantras. His many years of dedication to Bhakti Yoga shows in his unique voice and soulful chanting, which brings the audience to a blissful state. To contact Sura, call 310-869-2989 or Email sura108@gmail.com

Banabhatta Dasa

Bana plays mrdanga for the band. The mrdanga is a traditional drum from West Bengal, India, played extensively in devotional kirtan. It is a two sided drum having a small 5” head on one end and a larger head on the other. Along with chanting and the other instruments played, its deep, resounding beat can awaken devotional ecstasies in the listeners, enabling one to experience sublime states of higher consciousness. Bana follows a strict spiritual practice, has travelled extensively in India and has been playing mrdanga for more than 30 years. He considers the perfection of his playing to be the stage when he begins to experience that he is no longer playing the drum but that the drum actually “begins to play him”.

Madhurika Devi Dasi (Mikano)

Madhurika (Mikano)

Madhurika is the female singer of the band. She has been traveling with the band since 2010. Since she was in Seattle, she has always loved chanting and hoped to be in a kirtan band someday. Her devotional path kindly lead her to be chanting with Sura in the Temple Bhajan Band. She is also a dedicated yoga instructor. She has a BA in Drama and is trained in operatic singing. She is originally from Hamamatsu, Japan.

Sara Bock

Sara saw her first kirtan years ago in a yoga studio in Santa Monica and dreamed to one day also be in a kirtana band, performing in yoga studios and inspiring others to chant and dance. In 2001, her dream came true when Sura asked her to be a part of the Temple Bhajan Band. Since then, Sara has been singing, dancing, and playing in the band. Her musical background includes playing the clarinet in her high school orchestra and singing in choirs through both high school and college.

Lokah Bhakti

Lokah plays mrdanga and leads Bhakti Dance. Bhakti Dance is the perfect combination of meditation in movement which fuses yoga & fitness, the two most important disciplines of all times; through which we can improve various different daily difficulties such as, stress, lethargy, circulatory problems, breathing & meditation, obtaining amazing results. Lokah created Bhakti Dance and started leading it at Sura's kirtans a few years ago. With his passion and graceful movement, he always gets the audience to dance with him.

Lila Padma

Lila is a dedicated Tamboura player and the biggest fan of the Temple Bhajan Band. She met Sura many years ago when she lived in Miami, and has been helping Sura with booking shows all over the country since then. She is also a Jivamukti certified yoga teacher and has been sharing her knowledge of yoga asana for 17 years. The Temple Bhajan Band has played in many of her classes, where she has taught and spread the importance of Bhakti Yoga along with the purifying asana practice.

Our Amazing Collaborators:
Maha Laxmi,
Eddie Young, Christo Pellani, Deepak Ramapriyan, Marty Lieberman,
Marti Walker, Naikatma Dasa, Markandeya Dasa,
Scott and Laura Miller, and many more!

Venues

Lollapalooza in Newport Beach
Indian Film Festival at the Arclight Theater
Wedding at Self Realization Fellowship Lakeshrine
Gangs for Peace at the Sheenway Cultural Center in South Central
Hollywood Spiritual Film and Entertainment Festival
at the Pacific Design Center
Party at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood
Artivist Festival at the Egyptian Theater
Wilshire Screening Room (HSFE Festival)
International New Age Trade Show in Denver, CO
L.A. Gift Show at the L.A. Convention Center
Center for Moving Arts In San Diego, CA
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (Dance Club)
Avalon Garden in Sedona, AZ
Dance Home in Santa Monica
Vegetarian Dining Club
The Knitting Factory
Harbin Hot Springs
Raw Film Festival
The Temple Bar
Hip Hop Cafe
The Roxy
Earthdance
Space Island
Vedanta Society
Humanity at Peace
Integral Yoga in NYC
The Unknown Theatre
Worldfest in Encino, CA
East West Books in NYC
Jiva Mukti Yoga In NYC
Whole Earth Festival at UC Davis
St. John's Episcopal Church by USC
Yogathon at San Francisco Iyengar Yoga Institute
Parliamment of Religion at Omar Ibn Al Khattab Mosque
Women's Interfaith at West Angeles Pentecostal Church of Christ
Loads of Interfaith Events (Agape Church, Saint Augustine Church, Religious Science of Mind Redondo Beach, Garden Grove Interfaith, Hsi Lai Temple, Kali Puja in Laguna Beach, Martin Luther King Memorial at the Palms/ Culver Methodist Church, etc.)
Tons of Yoga Studios all over the Southwest.