Kirtan band Krishna Sambandha were invited to hold a Krishna conscious outreach program for inmates at the San Miguel women’s prison in Santiago, Chile on January 19^th.

The band plays concerts regularly all over Chile at prestigious theaters, cultural events and massive yoga retreats with audiences of 5,000 to 7,000 people. They also hold programs in hospitals, nursing homes, children’s homes, and of course prisons.

Over one hundred inmates, along with guards and members of the police department attended this particular event. Twenty-two devotees also participated.

Krishna Sambandha, the members of which are are all classically trained musicians, began the program by playing some classical Indian ragas using the sitar, santoor, mridanga, kartalas, tambura, and tablas. This is a standard practice the band use to create a peaceful atmosphere and prepare audiences to be receptive to the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

After the ragas, they chanted bhajans, or devotional songs. The devotees then taught the inmates how to chant the maha-mantra, and burst into an enthusiastic kirtan.

“The inmates danced and sang,” says the band’s founder Sri Bhakti Das. “Everyone was very happy. Even the guards and police could not stop smiling. A group of inmates got a guard to dance with them, which was transcendentally hilarious.”

One devotee also performed a magic show, including a levitation act, which greatly impressed the inmates. As the program concluded, they all received prasadam cookies and books on spiritual knowledge by Srila Prabhupada.

“If Lord Krishna desires, we will continue doing this program regularly,” Sri Bhakti says.