What happens when the world’s most famous rock and roll band descends on a small Indian village at the height of the hippie revolution?

Sex, drugs and rock and roll, of course — and inspiration, scandals and the creation of ‘The White Album’ … one of the greatest records of all time.

 

The Beatles at the Maharishi Mahesh Ashram in Rishikesh, India
The Beatles at the Maharishi Mahesh Ashram in Rishikesh, India

The Maharishi Mahesh Ashram in Rishikesh, India

Located in northern India, Rishikesh sits at the base of the Himalayas, surrounded by the holy Ganges River. Best known as a pilgrimage destination for Hindu devotees, the town has been at the center of spiritual and religious activities since ancient times.

That’s how the Fab Four found this sleepy hamlet in February 1968, when they descended on the Maharishi Mahesh Ashram to study transcendental meditation. The popular meditation modality involves the use of a mantra and is usually practiced for 15 to 20 minutes twice per day while sitting with the eyes closed.

The band had first met the Maharishi a year earlier in London, and he had since become the official “spiritual adviser to the Beatles.” After studying meditation together in Wales, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison decided to continue their studies in India.

While living in the ashram, the Beatles relaxed, meditated, wrote music and recorded much of what would become The Beatles, popularly known as the White Album.

 

A view of Rishikesh and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram (Beatles Ashram) meditation pods
A view of Rishikesh and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram (Beatles Ashram) meditation pods

 

Meditation pods come in many different styles at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India
Meditation pods come in many different styles at the Beatles Ashram

 

Looking up from inside a meditation dome at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh, India
Looking up from inside a meditation dome at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh, India

 

The main entrance to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh, India
The main entrance to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh, India

Inside the Beatles Ashram

Abandoned since 1997, Maharishi Mahesh Ashram is now filled with a community of buildings slowly being overtaken by time and nature. Crumbling roofs give way to vines, branches and trees, while old hallways provide shelter for animals of all sizes.

Though the site is technically closed to the public, entrepreneurial security guards are happy to let anyone in who is willing to pay the proper baksheesh (bribe).

It’s easy to walk around the compound, though it’s a good idea to watch your step. Rusty nails and broken glass can easily puncture a flip flop or tennis shoe.

Anything worth salvaging from the Beatles Ashram has long since been claimed, leaving only a shell of porous walls, shattered toilets, broken shelves and glassless windows.

 

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh, India
Visitors have written Beatles lyrics across the walls and ruins of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh, India

 

Abandonment is everywhere at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India
Abandonment is everywhere at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India

 

Everything that could be salvaged already has been taken from the Beatles Ashram
Everything that could be salvaged already has been taken from the Beatles Ashram

 

Love-filled messages adorn the walls of the Beatles Ashram
Love-filled messages adorn the walls of the Beatles Ashram

 

An abandoned meditation hall in the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram
An abandoned meditation hall in the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram

The White Meditation Domes of the Beatles Ashram

Perhaps the most famous architectural features of the Beatles’ Ashram are the large white meditation domes located on top of the dormitories.

The lower entrance to one of the famous meditation dome of the Beatles Ashram
The lower entrance to one of the famous meditation dome of the Beatles Ashram

With a hollow bottom half that can easily be walked through, countless tourists have followed in John, Paul, George and Ringo’s footsteps and sat in the dome’s base for a jam session.

The best acoustics, however, are found in the water tower occupying the top half of the dome. Accessible only during the dry season, adventurous visitors must first climb up a curved ladder to the top of the “Eggman,” then down another wobbly ladder into the inner chamber.

Fun fact: John Lennon wrote the lyric “I am the Eggman,” from the song “I Am the Walrus,” about the ashram’s white domes. Coo coo kachoo.

Even if you’re not a musician, it’s worth going inside just to hear your voice echo in that sacred place. Om’s and meditation are highly encouraged.

 

Meditation dome eggman Beatles Ashram Rishikesh India
One of the Eggmen sits nestled in the forests of Rishikesh, India

 

A meditation dome atop the dormatiroes at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi "Beatles" Ashram in Rishikesh, India
A meditation dome atop the dormitories at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi “Beatles” Ashram in Rishikesh, India

 

Some domes at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh double as sleeping quarters
Some domes at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh double as sleeping quarters

 

You can walk beneath the meditation "eggman" domes at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India
You can walk beneath the meditation “eggman” domes at the Beatles Ashram

 

This dome at the Beatles Ashram once served as a the sleeping quarters of a devotee
This dome at the Beatles Ashram once served as a the sleeping quarters of a devotee

 

Two meditation domes at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh, India - the Beatles Ashram
Two meditation domes at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh, India

Aum in the Dome

Music was everywhere in the Beatles Ashram, and after climbing into one of the meditation domes, Carrie, Tara, Lauren and I decided to add a few tones to the collective buzz.

Sitting in the lotus position, we joined hands, summoned our best and longest aums and began chanting.

Ooooooom. Oooooom. Oooooom. As the sound reverberated off the walls, the vibrations shook our bodies, souls and the entire room.

Here’s a video of our “fab” four minute aum session in one of the “Eggman” domes.

 


Music and Art at the Beatles Ashram

When we weren’t making our own music or exploring the ruins, we spent time getting to know the founders of the Beatles Cathedral Gallery. For two glorious weeks in April, 2012, these wanderers started a paint-by-numbers public mural project in the abandoned Satsang meditation hall.

When they weren’t busy painting, they were playing instruments, singing, dancing and enjoying everything life has to offer. Sadly, the project was shut down shortly after we left Rishikesh.

 

Inside the Satsang Hall at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India
Inside the Satsang Hall at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India

 

Musicians and travelers enjoy the Beatles Cathedral Gallery
Musicians and travelers enjoy the Beatles Cathedral Gallery

 

Ladders and art on the walls of the Satsang Hall at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram - Rishikesh, India
The walls of the Beatles Ashram are covered in art, graffiti and “so and so” loves “so and so”

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

Disillusionment at the Beatles Ashram

Less than two weeks after arriving, members of the Beatles began to become disillusioned with the Maharishi and left in somewhat rapid succession.

Doors leading into doors leading past abandonment at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh
Doors leading into doors leading past abandonment at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh

Ringo and his wife, Maureen, were the first to go, having stayed at the ashram for only ten days. Next were Paul and his partner, Jane Asher, who left after five weeks. John and George called it quits 16 days later.

According to rumor, the Maharishi’s demands for money and his behavior toward female disciples drove away the Beatles and their wives and entourage. Whatever the reason, they would soon formally renounce their association with the Maharishi as a “public mistake.”

Fun Fact: In the song Sexy Sadie, John Lennon’s sings “you made a fool of everyone.”  The “you” he referred to is the Maharishi.

Fortunately for music lovers everywhere, that “mistake” led to one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Years later, the New York Times and The Independent (UK) reported that the influence of the Maharishi and the journey to Rishikesh to meditate weaned the Beatles from LSD and inspired them to explore new directions, from which came many new songs.

Harrison later apologized for the way he and Lennon had treated the Maharishi, and in 1992 he gave a benefit concert for the Maharishi-associated Natural Law Party. In 2009, McCartney stated that “Transcendental meditation was a gift the Beatles had received from the Maharishi at a time when they were looking for something to stabilize them.”

 

I swear these stairs in the large dormitory of the Beatles Ashram look like an MC Escher picture
I swear these stairs in the large dormitory of the Beatles Ashram look like an MC Escher picture

Inspiring The White Album… and Other Famous Songs

While in Rishikesh, I came across a list of songs written or recorded by the Beatles at the Maharishi Mahesh Ashram … or inspired by their stay there.

 

Steps leading up to abandonment in a residential dome in the lower part of the Ashram
Steps leading up to abandonment in a residential dome in the lower part of the Ashram
  • Dear Prudence — (named after Prudence Farrow – Mia Farrow’s sister, – who would not “come out and play.”)
  • Sexy Sadie — (originally named Maharishi, but changed to avoid a lawsuit)
  • Back in the USSR
  • Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
  • Cry Baby Cry
  • Don’t Pass Me By — (written by Ringo Starr)
  • Mother Nature’s Son — (inspired by a lecture given by the Maharishi)
  • Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
  • I Will
  • Julia
  • The ladder leading up the meditation dome, which we climbed to do our Om session
    The ladder leading up the meditation dome, which we climbed to do our Om session

    Wild Honey Pie

  • Mean Mr. Mustard
  • Dehradun — (written by George Harrison but never released)
  • The Rishikesh Song — (also called the Happy Rishikesh Song, though it was never released)
  • Look at Me — (released on the 1970 album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band)
  • Child of Nature — (released as Jealous Guy on John Lennon’s Imagine)
  • Spiritual Regeneration/Happy Birthday Mike Love — (recorded on tape in Rishikesh)
  • Why Don’t We Do it in the Road — (inspired by monkeys having sex in the roads of Rishikesh and across India)
  • Rocky Raccoon — (co-written with Donovan and inspired by Bob Dylan’s new album John Wesley Harding, which they heard for the first time at the Maharishi Mahesh Ashram)
  • The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill — (inspired by the son of an American student who went tiger hunting)

 

Looking Through a Window in the Dorms of the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India
Looking Through a Window in the Dorms of the Beatles Ashram

Photography from the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh

Here are some more photographs from the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India.

 

An abandoned hallway in one of the dormitories at the Beatles Ashram
An abandoned hallway in one of the dormitories at the Beatles Ashram

 

A living dormitory at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh
A living dormitory at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram in Rishikesh

 

Cracks, wires and branches form a face in the wall at the Beatles Ashram
Cracks, wires and branches form a face in the wall at the Beatles Ashram

 

Abandonment at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India
Abandonment at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India

 

An abandoned bathroom in a dorm way back in the Beatles Ashram
An abandoned bathroom in a dorm way back in the Beatles Ashram

 

Stone walls and hallways are very common at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram - Beatles Ashram - Rishikesh India
Stone walls and hallways are very common at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram

 

A decaying ceiling in the Beatles Ashram
A decaying ceiling in the Beatles Ashram

 

Abandoned classroom - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram - Rishikesh India
Inside a classroom at the Beatles Ashram

 

An abandoned temple Dagoba in the Beatles Ashram
An abandoned temple Dagoba in the Beatles Ashram

For more photography, check out my Rishikesh Gallery.