ISKCON London Radha-Krishna Temple stands in Soho Street, London, United Kingdom, is dedicated to Radha-Londonisvara (Radha Krishna), Jagannath, Balaram, Subhadra. It is also known as Soho Street Temple, Radha-Londonisvara Temple, ISKCON UK Headquarters.
The original and longest-running ISKCON temple in London, serving as the ISKCON UK headquarters and a historic hub of the Hare Krishna movement's arrival in Britain, with a documented Beatles/George Harrison connection. Founded in 1968 at Bury Place, Bloomsbury by six devotees sent to London by A.
United Kingdom carries a distinct temple identity of its own: Home to Europe's first traditional stone Hindu temple, a landmark of London's diaspora community since 1995.
Darshan hours and daily worship
| Session | Timing (as published) |
|---|---|
| Morning | 4:30 AM (Mangala Arati) to around 11:45 AM darshan slots |
| Evening | Evening Arati approx. 6:30 to 7:00 PM; darshan continues to 9:30 PM close |
Temple open daily 4:30 AM to 9:30 PM with darshan windows around each of the day's aratis (Mangala, Shringara, Dhoopa, Raj Bhoga, Sandhya, Sayana).
Poojas and daily rituals
Daily arati cycle: Mangala, Shringara, Dhoopa, Raj Bhoga, Sandhya and Sayana aratis
Festivals and special-day timings
Regular darshan hours are usually extended, or set aside entirely, on these dates.
| Festival | Period | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Ratha Yatra (London) | Annual, typically July (2025 date: 20 July) | ISKCON UK's major Krishna chariot festival; procession historically runs through central London (Park Lane, Piccadilly, Haymarket) to Trafalgar Square |
| Janmashtami | Annual, typically August (2025 date: 16 August) | Celebration of Lord Krishna's birth with kirtan and festivities |
History and architecture
History
Founded in 1968 at Bury Place, Bloomsbury by six devotees sent to London by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada from the San Francisco Krishna temple, among them Shyamsundar Das and Malati Dasi, Mukunda Das and Janaki, and Gurudas and Yamuna. The original Bury Place altar was carved from Siena marble by sculptor David Wynne. George Harrison of The Beatles became a major patron of the movement; devotees recorded devotional music on Harrison's Apple Records, and their 1969 single Hare Krishna Mantra reached number 12 on the UK singles chart. The congregation later relocated to its present home at 10 Soho Street in 1979. Harrison separately donated the country estate that became Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hertfordshire in 1973, a distinct property from this central London temple.
Planning your visit
How to reach
Located at 10 Soho Street, central London, near Oxford Street; served by Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus underground stations.
Where this information comes from
Confidence: Medium. Core history and Beatles connection well documented via Wikipedia; the temple's own official darshan/timing pages returned 403 errors during research so timings and dress code are sourced from secondary aggregator sites rather than the temple's own site directly