page_title: The Beatles in India
section_title: Facility
hierarchical_section_title: The Beatles in India / Facility
caption_attribution_description: English: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had built 121 meditation huts in his Ashram in Rishikesh so that Sadhus could reside, do their spiritual practices and take their meals. These buildings are post-Beatles' memorable stay - which made this Ashram world famous in February 1968 when the Fab four went there to deepen their experience of Transcendental Meditation practice. In the nineties the lease of the Ashram was not renewed by the Rajaji National Park and Uttarakhand Forest Department authorities. According to ancient Vastu principles, the location of the Ashram is not considered auspicious. Vastu shastras states that one should build on an Eastern slope with unobstructed view of sunrise and that the river should be on the Eastern or Northern side. New Maharishi Ashrams are now in auspicious Vastu locations on the Ganges, near Allahabad, in Uttarakashi and at the Brahmastan of India (geographical center) of India Madhya Pradesh.
context_page_description: In February 1968, the English rock band the Beatles travelled to Rishikesh in northern India to take part in a Transcendental Meditation training course at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The visit followed the group's denunciation of drugs in favour of TM and received widespread media attention. The band's interest in the Maharishi's teachings was led by George Harrison's commitment, and it changed Western attitudes about Indian spirituality and encouraged the study of Transcendental Meditation. The visit was also the most productive period for the Beatles' songwriting.
  The Beatles had intended to join the Maharishi in India soon after attending his seminar in Bangor, Wales in late August 1967. Their attendance at the seminar was cut short by the death of their manager Brian Epstein, after which they committed to making the television film Magical Mystery Tour. Harrison and John Lennon were convinced of the merits of TM and became spokesmen for the Maharishi's Spiritual Regeneration Movement, as he gained international prominence as the guru to the Beatles.
context_section_description: Located in the "Valley of the Saints" in the foothills of the Himalayas, Rishikesh is a place of religious significance, known as the "yoga capital of the world". The Maharishi's International Academy of Meditation, also called the Chaurasi Kutia ashram, was a 14-acre (57,000 m²) compound surrounded by jungle set across the Ganges from the town, 150 feet (46 m) above the river. The facility was designed to suit Western habits; Starr later compared the ashram to "a kind of spiritual Butlins" (a low-cost British holiday camp). The Beatles' bungalows were equipped with electric heaters, running water, toilets, and English-style furniture. According to Cooke de Herrera, the Maharishi obtained many "special items" from a nearby village so that the Beatles' rooms would have mirrors, wall-to-wall carpeting, wall coverings, foam mattresses and bedspreads. She wrote that, compared to the other students' bungalows, the Beatles' cottages "looked like a palace". In Cynthia Lennon's description, her and her husband's bedroom contained a four-poster bed, a dressing table, two chairs and an electric heater.
  Evans recalled there were around 40 staff, including cooks, cleaners, a joiner, and a full printing department. One of the Maharishi's aides, Ravindra Damodara, who later became a swami himself, kept a diary of this period at the ashram. For the Beatles' stay, according to Damodara, four small stone-covered buildings had been constructed along the path from the main centre down to the ashram gates. These dome-shaped rooms included a raised platform, accessed by ladder, on which each Beatle could engage in advanced meditation. The Maharishi's accommodation was a long, modern-style bungalow located away from the other buildings.
  The ashram was surrounded by barbed wire and the gates were kept locked and guarded. Although the Maharishi kept the media away from his famous students, he gave interviews to the press. To the Beatles' gratitude, he asked the reporters to come back after the band had had "a little time with the course". The press found McCartney the most willing to engage; according to author Howard Sounes, he was "the newspaperman's pet, the sensible Beatle" who gave them quotes and posed for photos on Lakshman Jhula bridge.
caption: Meditation domes at the International Academy of Meditation (pictured in 2006, long after the ashram's closure)
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