Harrison family wants private affair
Not clear where guitarist's ashes will be scattered, or if ceremony was already performed
MSNBC/December 4, 2001
Varanasi, India -- Hare Krishna followers in India on Tuesday awaited the arrival of the ashes of former Beatle George Harrison, a fellow devotee whose family reportedly planned to scatter his remains in the holy Ganges River. Officials of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness said that Harrison's widow, Olivia, and their 23-year-old son, Dhani were to arrive in India on Tuesday and a ceremony was expected on Wednesday.
"There is a lot of secrecy. What I can tell you is that we expect to perform the ceremony tomorrow," said Vrajendra Nandan, a spokesman for the Krishna society in New Delhi.
The Harrison family would not confirm any aspect of the reports, spokesman Gavin de Becker said in Los Angeles.
Separately, officials in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh said the ritual may already have taken place quietly.
"So far, we have received no information with respect to Harrison's ashes," the state's home [interior] secretary, Naresh Dayal said.
"All I can presume is perhaps they wanted it to be a private affair, so they might have already come and gone without informing anyone."
Harrison, 58, died of cancer in Los Angeles last Thursday.
Hours after his death, he was cremated at Hollywood Forever Memorial Park, a cemetery worker said. Harrison's body was dressed in traditional Indian robes and two of his closest friends, both Hare Krishnas, chanted quietly at his side, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
The family would not confirm any aspect of the reports, spokesman Gavin de Becker said in Los Angeles on Monday.
Error Admitted
An official of the Hare Krishna movement has said he had been wrong to say the ashes of Beatle guitarist George Harrison were to be immersed in the holy Ganges River on Tuesday. "Apparently, I had been misinformed by someone in Delhi," Arajit Das told reporters. Harrison was a long-time devotee of the Hare Krishna movement."There is a lot of secrecy. What I can tell you is that we expect to perform the ceremony tomorrow," said Vrajendra Nandan, a spokesman for the Krishna society in New Delhi.
The Harrison family would not confirm any aspect of the reports, spokesman Gavin de Becker said in Los Angeles.
Separately, officials in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh said the ritual may already have taken place quietly.
"So far, we have received no information with respect to Harrison's ashes," the state's home [interior] secretary, Naresh Dayal said.
"All I can presume is perhaps they wanted it to be a private affair, so they might have already come and gone without informing anyone."
Harrison, 58, died of cancer in Los Angeles last Thursday.
Hours after his death, he was cremated at Hollywood Forever Memorial Park, a cemetery worker said. Harrison's body was dressed in traditional Indian robes and two of his closest friends, both Hare Krishnas, chanted quietly at his side, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
The family would not confirm any aspect of the reports, spokesman Gavin de Becker said in Los Angeles on Monday.
Das had said the musician's widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, were to immerse Harrison's ashes in the Ganges at the bustling town of Varanasi, one of the holiest places in Hinduism and a popular site for cremations.
The president of the New Delhi chapter of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the formal title of the Hare Krishnas, said on Tuesday that the Harrison family was asking for privacy while in India.
"The family wants it to be a private affair. It is the saddest moment of their life," said Kartu Das at the Hare Krishna temple, where devotees held prayers in honor of Harrison and chanted before his portrait.
In a tradition dating back more than 3,500 years, Hindus are cremated on riversides and their ashes immersed in holy waters. Hindus believe this ritual releases the soul from the body for its heavenward journey, and frees it from the cycle of reincarnation.
'Great Loss'
"[Harrison's death] is a great loss to us," said Vrijendra Nandan, a spokesman for the New Delhi chapter of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. "When he was leaving his body, our devotees were chanting songs of Krishna by his bedside. We give him all the credit for spreading our thoughts in Europe and the USA."Harrison, known as the "quiet Beatle," had a long, intensely intimate relationship with Indian mysticism and music.
London-based Hare Krishna devotee Mukund Goswami introduced Harrison to the movement's founder, Srila Prabhupada. Harrison later donated one of his studios, spread over 14 acres in London, to the Hare Krishnas. In one of his most popular songs, "My Sweet Lord," Harrison chants Hare Krishna.
Krishna is one of the most popular Hindu gods. Hindu mythology describes him as a mischievous character born into a cow herder's family. He was seen as a shrewd manipulator who plotted to kill exploiting rulers and mobilized farmers to defend their rights.
Krishna's views on the immortality of the soul were compiled in one of India's holiest books of scriptures, the Bhagwad Gita.
Transcendental Meditation
In 1966, after the Beatles had stopped touring, Harrison came to India to study the sitar with Ravi Shankar. Shankar, whom Harrison helped make famous during the Beatles visits to India, was present during Harrison's final hours in California."We spent the day before with him, and even then he looked so peaceful, surrounded by love," Shankar said in a statement Friday.
In 1967, Harrison introduced the other Beatles to the teaching of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and all four took up transcendental meditation. Harrison and John Lennon traveled to Rishikesh, a holy city in northern India, to study with the Maharishi.
"George's music was wild before he met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi," said Swami Shyam, a holy man drinking tea along the Ganges River in Rishikesh, who said he met Harrison at the Maharishi's ashram.
"Some peace was infused into his music after he came to the ashram," Shyam said. "Bliss came much later, after he was associated with the Hare Krishna movement."
To see more documents/articles regarding this group/organization/subject click here.
