He is not your quintessential saffron-robed kirtan singer adorned with traditional paraphernalia. Yet, UK-born Radhika Das sings devotional chants rooted in India’s Bhakti tradition, attracting followers from all walks of life, faiths, and backgrounds. With over one million social media followers and a best-selling book to his name, Das is set to visit Australia this September (more on that later).
Das is in the Tuscan hills of Italy, hosting a Bhakti retreat, when he joins a Zoom call with The Indian Sun. I begin by asking about his name: why “Radhika,” a traditionally female name? He explains he was born Ravi, but his spiritual guru later gave him the name Radhika Das, meaning “the one who serves Radha.”
“It wasn’t the name I was born with,” he says with a laugh.
Born and raised in London, Das grew up far from the devotional circuit he now travels. His mother would play the Hanuman Chalisa on the way to school, a memory he says he met with polite disinterest. “I didn’t see how sound could shift consciousness. It was just something mum did.”
But teenage curiosity about life, God, the sou,l drew him into the company of monks, practitioners of Bhakti yoga. Their chants, their serenity, their philosophical debates stirred something he couldn’t shake. Soon, he was standing on his university campus, handing out flyers that asked: What would you do if you had 24 hours to live?
“I thought maybe three people would show up. Seventy-five came. The next week, 150. That continued every week for three years,” he recalls. The topics were disarmingly contemporary: Google vs God, or wouldn’t life be simpler if Apple and Blackberry were just fruits?
Though still in his early twenties, Das had found his voice. Not just metaphorically, but literally. Chanting became his outlet, his instrument, his method of communication. “Sound,” he explains, “has a way of reaching the soul when words fail. It’s the playlist for the soul.”
He remembers his first kirtan session. It wasn’t in a packed auditorium, nor at an ashram or temple. It was a small studio in East London, where he’d set up with a drummer, a guitarist, a saxophone player and a singer. Cushions laid out, mic levels checked, incense lit. At 7pm, the room stood empty. Ten minutes later, a single woman walked in.
“I welcomed her warmly, told her we were just about to begin,” he recalls. “At first she sat with her eyes closed. Then she laid down. Then, partway through, she was gone. Just like that. That was my first ever kirtan.”
From that awkward beginning has grown an unlikely global career—unlikely not because Das lacks charisma nor because of any obvious lack of discipline. It’s because devotional music, particularly Bhakti-rooted chanting, isn’t often the stuff of mainstream attention in the West. Yet somehow, Das with roots in East London has helped bring it there.
His music is simple. Mantras repeated in crescendos that rise and fall like tides. For those unfamiliar, it might resemble a spiritual jam session. But for attendees, it often becomes a moment of release. “I’ve watched people who’d never even heard the word kirtan leave in tears. Not from sadness, but from relief. It’s like something dormant wakes up.”
It’s a practice that, while rooted in the Vedic traditions, transcends any one faith or ethnicity. “In the beginning,” Das says, “there were no Hindus in the audience. It was Westerners such as teachers, businesspeople, new parents who felt drawn to the chanting. And now, funnily enough, that interest from the West has got people in India paying attention again.”
He’s clear that his intention has never been to dilute tradition. “I still study with my teachers, I stay close to the source. But I don’t wear robes, I don’t shave my head. I want people to understand: the practice isn’t the paraphernalia. It’s the feeling.”
His new book Mantra Meditation has already sold over 30,000 copies worldwide. “I wanted something people could give to their kids, their neighbours, without worrying it would come across preachy or rigid. Just clear, relevant, and kind.”
His philosophy, if it can be called that, hinges on approachability. “Some people might have baggage around religion. But that doesn’t mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater. There’s beauty here—joy, even. You just have to listen.”
Now, he’s bringing that message to Australia with MANTRA THAT’LL MOVE SOUL, a four exclusive East and West Coast shows, throughout September and October. “You’ll dance. You’ll chant. Hopefully, you’ll walk away feeling there’s more to life than just surviving.”
But for all the crowds and momentum, Das remains rooted in the personal. He describes a moment of heartbreak, years ago, in the early stages of a relationship that would eventually become a marriage. “It was falling apart. I needed something steady. So I picked up my mala, or I’d sit with my harmonium. I sang my sadness. And it gave me peace.”
He’s not suggesting that chanting solves everything. But he does believe it can shift something within. “Mantra means to liberate the mind. Even if you’re not after God, even if devotion isn’t your thing, the sound calms the storms upstairs.”
He hopes Australia will show up with open ears and maybe open hearts too. “This isn’t about converting anyone. It’s an invitation. You’re welcome to come, sit, chant, or just be. It’s enough.”
The one woman in Shoreditch who once quietly left mid-kirtan? He never saw her again. “But I’m grateful she came,” Das says. “Because we sang. That’s what matters.”
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🌟UK-born @radhika_dasa, a #Bhakti chant singer, blends tradition with modernity, attracting global followers. 🌍📿 His music transcends faiths, offering spiritual solace through mantra meditation. 🎶💫 Touring Australia in Sept/Oct. 🎤🙏 #TheIndianSun
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