The Hare Krishna Tree

On 9 October 1966 a monk from India sat down beneath this American elm and began to chant. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his followers sang the Hare Krishna mantra under it in what is remembered as the first outdoor Hare Krishna chanting in the West, and Allen Ginsberg sang with them. A movement that went on to reach most of the world began its public life here, in the shade of one tree in the East Village. Followers of the faith regard the tree as sacred, and they still come back to it. NYC Parks counts it among the park's highlights, and a plaque placed in 2001, by most accounts, records the 1966 chanting and mentions the park's venerable American elms. That last detail matters when you arrive, because this is not the only old elm in Tompkins Square. The one you want stands near the centre of the park, by the curved row of benches. Our pin gets you to the right part of the park rather than to the trunk, so let the benches settle it. Nobody we have read says how old the tree is. It was already big enough to sit under in 1966, and the park itself opened in 1834, but nothing we have found ties this particular elm to the park's early years, so we will not pretend it does. If you know when it was planted, or have put a tape round its trunk, tell us.