Whatever happened to the “Beatles ashram” in Rishikesh?
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
These evocative photographs of the abandoned Rishikesh ashram of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi – celebrity yogi to the Beatles and an inextricable part of late 60s counterculture – are by Paul Prudence, the author of the beautiful blog dataisnature. The Beatles stayed at this ashram in 1968 to study with the yogi. He apparently disapproved of their potsmoking, though you can’t believe everything you read. John and George eventually left the ashram amidst rumours the yogi had made sexual advances on Mia Farrow, though apparently these rumours were discounted much later on. But by the time the accusations were retracted the much-publicized 60s melodrama was already mostly forgotten. The disintegrating ashram is now minimally monitored by a security guard, but an image search online shows that many travelers and photographers trespass on the place regularly, either out of homage or just curiosity. It’s a beautiful place. The Maharishi died last year at age 90 in the Netherlands, John and George are long gone, and it’s unclear exactly when the ashram was abandoned and the bees started to move in. I’m not a Transcendental Meditationist, unlike David Lynch and Clint Eastwood, but I find the architectural remains of the yogi’s ashram very beautiful and a reminder of the pervasive influence of Indian design and thought on 60s aesthetics in the west. Thanks to Paul Prudence for permission to reproduce these superb photos here.
