Founding father of today’s Rishikesh town is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who in the late ‘60s brought 4 Beatles and one Hollywood heroine to live there and write songs, while Swami tried to ‘rape’ Mia Farrow. Today Rishikesh has been crowned as the ‘Yoga Capital of the World’, a magnet for spiritual seekers with Ashrams and Yoga and meditation centers. The North of the town has most action, with flowing Ganges, forested hills, friendly and peaceful for meditation and spiritual exercises. Evenings in the valley are heavenly with temple bells as music, and a nightly Aarti Pujas by Sadhus (a fire offering by Sadhus with milling crowds of devotees, a century old ritual performed on the river banks of Ganga).
Rishikesh is divided into two main regions: the old historic downtown (Rishikesh town), with commercial store based activities, very busy Government Roadways Bus station and a sleepy Railroad station, the Triveni Ghat (an old auspicious bathing Ghat on the Ganges); and the other town section is tourist dense called Muni Ki Reti, Tapovan, the other side of Ram Jhula and Laxman Jhula (Jhula means suspension bridge). Full of accommodation facilities (mostly unauthorized and illegal), Ashrams, restaurants Yoga schools. These Jhulas are used mostly by pedestrian for crossing the river – 2 wheelers a virtual nuisance freely use them too. Only Ram Jhula has facility for a boat ride too for Re 10 one way. Swarg Ashram vicinity, the other side of Lakshman Jhula, is popular with backpackers and Bhang users.
Travelers may learn to play the flute, sitar or tabla; paid or free Yoga, practice humming or gong Meditation, or go crystal healing.
Rishikesh is not all Yoga, walking cows or spirituality, it’s now a popular Water rafting place, starting some 12 Kms upstream from a village called Shivpuri, backpacker hang-out, and is passing town for Char Dhams ( 4 important pilgrimage Hindu towns), valley of Flower, skiing town Auli and Sikh religious town of Hemkund, on to China, a scenic gateway to the treks in the Himalayas.
Swarg Ashram a township located 5 km upstream from Rishikesh, across Ram Jhula on the east Ganges, or a barren 2km walk south of Lakshman Jhula opposite to Shri Shivananda Ashram is packed with ashrams, temples and caves of Sadhus. This Ashram was built in the memory of Swami Vishudhanand, a Sadhu also known as Kali Kamli Wala (the saint with a black blanket) amongst the locals. Streets have several tea sellers, strip of shops, libraries, parks, meditation centers, Ayurvedic dispensaries, and cheap accommodations. Lying amongst forest hills, with orchards and an atmosphere that is free of automobiles.
The Ashram, maintained by a trust called ‘Kali Kamliwala Kshetra’ followers of Swami Vishudhanand houses several temples and shrines, each of them depicting different Hindu deities. Every temple is headed by a care taker priest who performs religious ceremonies, chanting, processions as well as birth and death ceremonies. Very popular amongst foreign tourists mainly because of its originality, spiritual inclinations and old traditions, travelers visit this place for Yoga, study of Ayurveda medicines.
The colorful Ganga Arti is held at the riverside temple of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram every evening at 6.30pm, with singing, chanting, musicians and the placing of lighted candles on the river flow.
Beatles Abode: Walking distance from Parmarth Niketan, and Swarg Ashram, Beatles Living domes slowly being consumed by the forest undergrowth, is what’s left of the original Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram of 1960s. Abandoned in 1997 and is now back under the control of the Forest Department. The dilapidated shells of many buildings, meditation cells and lecture halls can still be seen, including Maharishi’s own house and the Dome houses where the Beatles stayed and apparently wrote much of the White Album that became world craze .The once-striking art installation called The Beatles Cathedral Gallery has become a graffiti free-for-all, and a venue for nostalgic photo ops.
