The Dubliner 100 Best Restaurants 2002

With branches in Los Angeles, Paris and Rome, you might assume that Govinda's is one of those super-chic bistros so beloved of celebrities. As it happens, Sinead O'Connor is a regular at this simple, clean vegetarian cafe. The catch? Govinda's is owned and managed by the Hare Krishna's, who ensure that all dishes are free of caffeine (makes you hyper), garlic (makes you passionate) and mushrooms (makes you ignorant, apparently). In fairness, the Harries are a lot less scary than the Scientologists - the manageress, Nicola, is charming - and Govinda's is a great place for cheap, tasty lunch in town. However, you may have a hard time convincing your mother to darken its doors. Try the moussaka and the cheesy curd paneer with a buttered chapati. Down it with a mango smoothie. Total price? €7.20.Haribol!

The Irish Times magazine - Saturday, July 24, 2004

PEACE OF CAKE

Good mood food is what you find at Govinda's on Aungier Street, Dublin. The cafe/restaurant is running courses in Hare Krishna vegetarian food, taught by an Indian lady called Katyayani Mataji. Each session involved a reward of eating the fruits of the session's labour, which includes curries, samosas, vegetable subjis, dahl, pakoras, gulabjamons, and breads such as chapattis and naan. Hare Krishnas make their food with serious devotion - it's food to peace out with. The course starts on Sunday week and runs for the following four Sundays. The four-week course costs €60. From August 1st, 3-5 p.m. To book phone Govinda's (01-4750309) or email praghosa.SDG@pamho.net)

The Irish Entrepreneur  - March 2004

Selling God - HARE KRISHNA'S IN IRELAND

Considering that the modern Hare Krishna movement only started in 1966 in the Western World, their popularity is impressive. Hare Krishna words are now common parlance in the English language - for example the words guru and mantra are even commonly used in business speak.

Praghosa, an Irish born devotee, runs Govinda's Vegetarian Restaurant in Dublin 2. His first contact was with the Hare Krishnas in London in the 80s, and he's never turned back.

How many people are followers of the Hare Krishna Movement in Ireland?

There are various degrees of people's commitment. So in a broad sense, our only two temples are in rural places. At festivals there will be 1000 people at the temple. But that would be a broad understanding of those following Krishna.

How do you raise money to keep these temples going?

The two temples were both bought in the 80s. Part of that would come from direct fundraising by the actual members. This could be from donations, and selling the many books we have. We generally wouldn't do raffles, that would donflict with one of our core principles - we are not meant to gamble. We are vegetarians, we couldn't invite a butcher to donate! It would seem like a hypocritical thing to do from our perspective.

How do you get the word out?

Our main point of contact with the public is this restaurant. And, we have some members go out on a daily basis distributing books. We do vegetarian cookbooks, but the majority of our books are philosophical. Most of the books we sell at the restaurant would be cookbooks. We don't see going out on the street 'evangelising' as such. The way we see it is that if you come across something valuable then you try to share it with other people, otherwise it would be selfish to keep it to yourself. We teach that you are an eternal being, like all of the religions teach. This body that we are in is temporary. We should focus more on the spiritual side, and less on the material side, just because the temporary material side comes to an end, whereas the eternal spiritual side doesn't. In our life we come to a fork in the road, one is the road for seeking material happiness and one is the road to seeking spiritual happiness. But those who seek material happiness won't find it, what they are looking for is spiritual happiness. More and more people are going down the road to material happiness.

What are the other ways in which you generate revenue and interest?

We have cooking courses, we have philosophy courses, they don't cost much. We are not a profit organisation, but of course we pay approximately €100,000 a year for VAT for Govinda's, and that's just to the tax man! We also have a rent of €50,000 a year, so we have to charge to cover costs. So we have to be entrepreneurial in some way, otherwise it wouldn't work. As you know, many restaurants are going under, so we have been here six years. It's not our primary motive, but we do make a profit, and that is donated to the temples, or our projects.

Are the two Hare Krishna Temples in competition with each other for funds?

(Laughs) That's a good question! (Reluctantly, he says yes) There is one temple that I donate to for historical reasons. It's not that I don't donate to only one, I do donate to both, but there is one temple I help more than the other. I am more directly affiliated with that one, I know the people a bit better. And historically the other temple is in the outskirts of Belfast, so it has always had more of a liaison with the UK, so it just developed that way. The temple I donate to needs somewhere in the region of €5000 a month to keep it running. Of that, I give them about 20%. In fact the main form of income is from one devotee - he is a successful businessman and he makes up the difference. It is in Cavan, on a 22-acre island, and there is a big old house on it. Ideally we'd like to knock it down and start again. But because we have a rambling old house, it just eat up the money. There are about 7 people who are resident there, and they are taken care of.

What's your biggest expense at Govinda's?

After Sept 11, our insurance went up from €1500 to €6000, so that's four times higher! My idea is that if you pay for your insurance for the year and nothing happens then they should give you half of it back! That way they are still making money. The government force you to have insurance, so it a cartel between the government and the insurance companies.

Do you advertise the restaurant?

We don't really advertise. We did a survey a while ago about how people hear of us, and in the majority of cases it was work of mouth. So that is the most effective way to get ourselves known. The only direct advertising that we do other than advertising within the restaurant, is that we are a member of the Irish Tourist Board. I don't believe that anyone comes to this restaurant through a Yellow Pages ad, particularly because we are not a booking restaurant. It certainly wouldn't pay us back the money that we would have to put out on it. If you are a vegetarian in Dublin, then there are really only four vege restaurants, so we are automatically known in those circles. WE do a talk at the world vegetarian day every year, so we are known. We go to a couple of colleges once a week and sell food there, very cheaply. We sell a meal that costs €8.50 at Govinda's for €3, so we are more or less selling it at cost. The primary goal of this restaurant is not to make money. But we have to run it well so that it stays open! The main reason we have this restaurant is so we can distribute food that has been offered to Krishna first. We want people to enjoy the food, but we also would like them to eat food that has been offered to God first. The second priority is for people to have a contact with the Hare Krishna movement. They can get exposed to the courses and the books here. We would consider ourselves spiritual entrepreneurs because that's what we are all about, and that's our main motivation. We are promising spiritual and sanctified food.

How much charisma do you need to interest people in your movement?

Charisma is a material trait. If you have a charismatic person in the movement, then yes, they will attract others. But, what are they attracting? And who are they attracting? Take an introverted person for example (also a material trait). If they are really pure, they have no material desires, are humble etc, that is the really attractive quality. A charismatic person will get people to follow them, but on a short-term basis. But if you want to maintain and sustain that interest, the person has to be able to do that long term. You may have a charismatic person who is keeping people's interest, but it has to be with genuine spiritual knowledge and genuine spiritual quality. A real spritual leader has to do a balancing act. There can be no desire for fame, no desire for profit. If a person is naturally charismatic, then they will attract followers and ultimately the opportunity to make a profit. People following them will naturally make donations and follow them, but to develop spiritually they have to have balance. The big challenge is how to be a spiritual leader without falling into those categories.