Rishikesh Part III: The Beatles' Ashram

In 1968 the Beatles traveled to Rishikesh with wives, girlfriends, assistants and reporters to study Transcendental Meditation with the guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They joined Donovan, Mike Love, Paul Horn, Mia Farrow, and her sister, Prudence (remember the song Dear Prudence?).

I was determined to find the ashram, having been and still am, an avid Beatles fan. A report from my friend, Kathy, said that it was quite overgrown and abandoned. So the first day in Rishikesh I dragged my young friends, Cristi and Shannon, in search of this lost treasure. Our hotel manager said , "Go over the bridge and then it's about a 20 minute walk."

Two hours later, fighting hordes of Ganges worshipers, cows, honking motorcycles and persistent hawkers, we finally ran into this sign, the one and only sign pointing in a general direction towards the ashram. Another twenty minutes and the road dead-ended on the river. Was this the ashram that we heard so much about?

A park-like piece of land next to the river was overtaken by several sadhus, bathing, washing their robes, and smoking who knows what? Somehow this didn't feel like the place, but we had come to the end of the road.

Shannon checks out one of the sadhu's' homes. He did have the best view in the world.

So, we left knowing that somehow we had missed a turn somewhere. Sure enough, on our last day in Rishikesh we set off again in search of the mysterious ashram. This time we decided to ask an American-looking couple and they pointed us up a dried-up creek bed, not far from where we were the first time.

I was, and still am, amazed that there was no sign, no selling tacky Beatles key chains and t-shirts. Instead, behind an iron gate with a simple padlock sat this man waiting to charge us whatever he could get out of us to open the gate. He was camped out in one of the abandoned buildings. We happily paid 100rs each ($2) and were told we would have a guide. Ha! Not a soul in sight.

Meditation caves

Inside "Number 9"

The next two hours was truly surreal. We had the whole 14 acres to ourselves, except for a one-legged sadhu using a scythe to hack away at some of the tangled weeds.

Sadhu hacking away at the weeds with a great smile.

I thought for sure he would hit us up for more money. Instead he tried to tell us stories in the little English he knew about finding cobras with double fangs, seeing a huge leopard, and wild elephants on the land. Great...

Cristi negotiating with the enormous spiders.

Imagine...

The Beatles wrote over 48 songs during their short two-month stay. Several of the songs appear on the White Album and two on Abbey Road. Ringo left after only a few days due to an illness, then Paul. John and George stayed the longest, but left when a riff happened over the Mararishi  using their fame to collect more money. Coming to Rishikesh, however, put India on the map and made yoga/meditation a worldly focus.

As I was ambling up the path, keeping my eyes out for those giant snakes and tigers, I stumbled upon a rickety old building that looked like it was used for group gatherings. To my surprise, it was full of recent paintings by artists/song writers who camped out illegally for two weeks in April 2012.

 

The following photos of are of the artwork of a few dozen artists. For more info go to The Beatles Cathedral/Gallery.com

The "art fest" lasted for just two two weeks before being shut down. Satsang Hall is in a shambles, with the roof caving in. I can't help but wonder why this memorable place has not been preserved.

I was a happy camper to have found the actual ashram, and to be able to freely roam, just the three of us. Trying to imagine the scene of such great artists and healers gathering together. Incredible India!