Yamuna Devi

Yamuna Devi (19th May 1942–20th December 2011), born Joan Agnes Campanella in Butte, Montana was a senior member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)^[1][2]. She was part of the early 1960s Beat Generation in North Beach, San Francisco^[3] before meeting A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in New York City in 1966; becoming an initiated disciple in 1967^[4][5].

In late 1966, at Srila Prabhupada's request, together with her sister Janaki and Janaki's husband Mukunda Goswami|Mukunda she travelled to San Francisco to help establish an ISKCON temple. This temple, at 518 Frederick Street in Haight-Ashbury, became the first ISKCON temple on the West Coast of the United States.

In 1968, together with five other International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna followers, Yamuna flew to London to establish ISKCON in the United Kingdom.^[6] There, she helped introduce The Beatles|Beatles guitarist George Harrison to Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy and practice^[7]. Yamuna sang co-lead vocals on the 1969 Apple Records "Hare Krishna Mantra" single^[8], which reached number 12 in the UK Chart^[9]. She also sang lead vocals on the 1970 Apple Records "Govinda" single, which reached number 23 in the UK Chart^[10].

From 1970 to 1974 she lived and travelled in India with Srila Prabhupada as part of the World Sankirtan Party^[11].

In 1988 she won two James Beard Foundation Award|James Beard Awards, including Cookbook of the Year, for her book The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking^[12]. This was followed by a further award in 1993 for her book Yamuna's Table^[13][14].

Yamuna was noted by her peers for her great humility^[15] and has been cited as an inspiration by figures such as Jahnavi Harrison^[16][17][18].

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