On a Beatlemania pilgrimage to Rishikesh

In February 1968, Ringo Star, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and John Lennon of the British band Beatles, arrived at the ashram of Mahesh Yogi to learn transcendental meditation. They stayed here for nearly two months and penned around 40 songs. With the passage of time, the ashram was abandoned and soon turned into a neglected heap. The Uttarakhand forest department has now renovated the Chaurashi Kuthia—the Beatles Ashram as it is popularly known—or the huts where the Fab Four stayed, and opened it for the public. You can visit the Beatles Cathedral Gallery and other rooms to see the band-inspired murals. You can go for a walk along the nature trail, which also covers the ashram; tickets are priced at Rs 150 for Indians and Rs 650 for foreigners. The forest, where the ashram is located, is now part of the Rajaji National Park. Hence the ashram can be visited only when the forest is officially open (November 15 to June 15) to visitors.