Among the silent paths of Rajaji National Park, at the foot of the Himalayas, hides one of the most iconic places of 20th-century pop and spiritual culture: the Beatles Ashram, also known as Chaurasi Kutia (84 Huts). It was here, amidst the jungle-infested ruins and abandoned meditative domes, that the Beatles found refuge in 1968, during what was their most fruitful interlude as songwriters.
Today, this decadent ashram has become a favourite destination for urbexers, Beatles fans and spiritual travellers in search of an India that no longer exists.
A cathedral in the Indian jungle
Founded as the centre of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi‘s International Academy of Meditation, the complex was built in 1963 thanks to a $100,000 donation from American heiress Doris Duke. But it was no classic Spartan ashram. Here were bungalows with heating, carpeting and running water. There were even plans for an airstrip for private jets.
In total, the site occupies 14 acres on a 46-metre-high cliff overlooking the Ganges, amidst teak and guava trees, fenced off to keep out tigers and elephants from the nearby nature park. Today, among the ruins and modern graffiti, the echoes of mantras, sitars and Beatlesque poetry still resound.
When the Beatles became yogis
1967 marked an epochal cultural turning point: the entire Western pop scene was beginning to be influenced by Eastern philosophies, with the Beatles as the undisputed pioneers of this spiritual revolution. In August of that year, it was Pattie Harrison, wife of guitarist George, who orchestrated the meeting that would change everything, inviting the band to a Maharishi lecture at the Park Lane Hilton. The moment could not have been more critical: the death of Brian Epstein had left the Liverpool four looking for a new direction, and the idea of a spiritual retreat in the Indian ashram seemed the perfect answer.
The Beatles – George, John, Paul and Ringo – accompanied by their wives, friends and celebrities from the psychedelic jet-set, arrived in Delhi on 16 February 1968. There was Mia Farrow, Donovan, Mike Love of the Beach Boys and Magic Alex, the inventor who was supposed to bring the “cosmic sound” to the ashram, but instead ended up fuelling tensions and rumours.
The 240-kilometre journey to Rishikesh by taxi took six hours. As Harrison recalled: “Rishikesh is an incredible place, situated where the Ganges flows out of the Himalayas into the plains between the mountains and Delhi.”
The group that arrived in Rishikesh was a microcosm of the band’s internal tensions: George Harrison, already a convert to Transcendental Meditation, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, increasingly at odds over the group’s artistic direction, and Ringo Starr, the most sceptical of them all. The drummer, intimidated by the spice-rich local cuisine, had even stocked up on canned British beans – a detail that speaks volumes about his state of mind. Not surprisingly, he was the first to abandon the meditative experiment after only ten days.
The stay, however, was a creative explosion: many of the songs on the White Album were born between the bungalows and the terraces, including Dear Prudence, Mother Nature’s Son and the caustic Sexy Sadie, written by Lennon when disillusionment with the guru took over.
Life in the Ashram: Spiritual Luxury and Creativity
The Beatles were accommodated in bungalows equipped with electric heaters, running water, toilets and English-style furniture. Maharishi had obtained many “special items” from a nearby village to ensure that the rooms had mirrors, carpets, wall coverings, foam mattresses and bedspreads. Ringo Starr likened the ashram to “a kind of spiritual Butlins”, referring to cheap British holiday camps.
The Beatles adopted the local clothing, and the ashram had its own tailor to make clothes for the students. Although the local rules forbade alcohol, in the evening hours the group could not resist the temptation to indulge in a few sips of homemade liquor, smuggled in from neighbouring villages. A small act of rebellion that revealed how difficult it was for the world’s most famous rock stars to fully adapt to monastic life.
Harrison turned one of the bungalows into a music room and invited all the students to participate in jam sessions held on the roof of the building. It was here that most of the songs on the “White Album” were born, inspired by nature and the simplicity of the surroundings.
The Break-up: Scandal and Disillusion
The Beatles’ stay ended abruptly on 12 April 1968, amidst an atmosphere of recrimination towards Maharishi. Rumours circulated about his alleged inappropriate behaviour with some schoolgirls, and Lennon and Harrison had developed suspicions that he was exploiting their group’s fame. So the band packed up and left “the lunatic’s camp”, as Lennon had called it.
“We had a feeling that the Maharishi had been a mistake, really,” Lennon told an interviewer. “We thought it was something other than what it was.” But it was John Lennon who left the most indelible mark of that disillusionment: his last Indian composition, “Sexy Sadie”, was originally born as “Maharishi”, a vitriolic tribute to the guru who had failed them. “Sexy Sadie, you’ll get what you deserve, however great you think you are” – words that crystallised the end of a chapter and the bitterness of broken dreams.
Years later, when Harrison personally apologised in 1991, the Maharishi replied, “I could never be angry with angels.”
Decline, abandonment and rebirth
After 1970, Maharishi abandoned the ashram. The lease expired in 1981, and in the 1990s, the site was incorporated into the Rajaji Tiger Reserve. The domes were occupied by sadhus, the holy men of Indian tradition, who lived there for years before the jungle, vandals and wild animals took over. In 2008, with the death of Maharishi (who had long since moved to Europe), an era came to an end.
In December 2015, the ashram was officially opened to the public with an entrance fee of 150 rupees for Indians and 650 rupees for foreigners (today 300 and 1200 rupees respectively). The opening hours today are as follows: 10 am to 4 pm.
In February 2016, the Cathedral Gallery’s initiative was reborn as the “Beatles Ashram Mural Project”, when four artists were invited to produce a series of murals for the hall. These paintings, which blend the lush growth of nature with psychedelic murals, offer a profound visual experience: an artistic homage to the spiritual and countercultural movement of the 1960s.
Architecture between India and the West
The ashram has a unique architecture: the pure, domed lodgings with their ovoid design resemble meditation capsules suspended in time. The main structures – Anand Bhavan and Siddhi Bhavan – are brightly coloured stepped pyramids with multiple arches and terraces on which the Beatles played under the stars.
A place poised between science fiction and spirituality. The roofs house gigantic white concrete eggs: veritable “ascetic cells” for meditators, immersed in nature.
The must-sees of the former ashram
Chaurasi Kutiya – 84 small stone meditation “caves”, each with a dome, a living floor and an upper chamber. Number 9 is legendary: it is said to have been used by the Beatles themselves.
The Beatles Cathedral Gallery – A room transformed into an open-air gallery: graffiti, murals and song verses paper the crumbling walls. A spontaneous ode to hippie culture and inner revolution.
Ruins inhabited by colours – Nature takes back what is hers, but urban artists have left their mark. Trees and creepers intertwine with psychedelic pop murals. It is a unique visual and spiritual experience.
The communal canteen and dormitory – once full of comforts for western visitors, now silent and empty. Here, people dined under wooden pergolas, while birdsong resounded in the air.
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