Krishna Internet Radio

In its Feb-March 1997 issue Religious Broadcasting magazine, in an article entitled "Not Just Jesus" reported on KHQN Radio, "KHQN-AM/Spanish Fork, Utah is the nation's only full time Hare Krishna radio Station. Devotee Charu Das explains how this came about, "I had a weekly radio show in Los Angeles for the Indian community, called the Krishna Show. To rent time in Los Angeles is pricey and it occurred to me in 1981 that for the same amount we might be able to have a full time radio station somewhere else."

After buying the station in 1982, Das continued to run it on its current AOR format for two years while he and his wife produced their own shows in Los Angeles with a view to converting the format to entirely Hare Krishna religious. Since then, KHQN broadcasts a line up of programming which includes vegetarianism shows, serialized and dramatized Indian epics (the Mahabharat and Ramayana), Puranic literature, stories and music. Some of the more popular shows are on vegetarianism. Food for the Thoughtful interviews famous vegetarian celebrities such as Bob Barker and Hayley Mills. Eating Healthy and Karma Free takes its content from a publication called Vegetarian Times. Music constitutes about 40 percent of the station's programming. "There's a lot of Krishna rock music we play that has been produced by devotees, our own counterpart to Christian Rock music," Charu explains. Music from India and the maha mantra (the repetitive Hare Krishna chant) is also played. "You get the maha mantra to a myriad of tunes and instrumentation." Das is quick to point out that the station doesn't have a large audience.

"Most people have listened to the radio station at one time or another and are aware of its existence, but I think at any given time, there are probably less than 3000 people listening." But , he stresses, "Everybody appreciates the philosophy, the cogency of it. There is nothing cultist about our movement. In this area people have very nice, respectful, attitudes toward devotees." Das is amazed by the lack of opposition to the station. "In 12 years, there hasn't been a single negative incident. On the other hand, there has been a lot of positive feedback." Covering an area nearly 90 per cent Mormon, he realizes that "People aren't walking around looking to be converted to another religion. But since we've been here, there's been a huge upsurge in vegetarians in the valley among the Mormon population." (link)