In 1968, the Beatles came to Rishikesh, India, to live in an ashram, learn meditation, and be enlightened by their guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the “laughter guru.” He was the inventor of a meditation technique, which was and is incredibly popular among Westerners. Maharishi was also an excellent businessman and when he died in 2008, he left behind billions of dollars and millions of followers. He was criticized by many, including the Beatles themselves and his fellow gurus for being too focused on money and for not sharing his wisdom simply for doing good.
The Beatles fell in love with this man who taught them meditation at a time when their lives were hectic, somewhat crazy, and drugs were beginning to be a problem for them. Maharishi promised world peace and yogic flight through his meditation technique. As we know, neither has been achieved so far, yet the Beatles were ready, even desperate, to believe him.
Of course, it seems that the Beatles liked to believe the unbelievable. There was a guy they called Magic Alex, the “Greek Wizard.” The Beatles believed in him to offer the most incredible futuristic inventions. It would seem this Alex guy had promised them a new kind of paint that could make anything invisible, or a car that would change color when you flipped a switch. He was also working on some wallpaper speakers, which would actually be part of the wallpaper. The Beatles loved it and told him many times “if you could do that we’d like one”. They invested a large amount of money in Magic Alex and even commissioned him to create an “artificial sun” that would light up the night sky. When it came time for Alex to produce the artificial sun from him, he claimed that there wasn’t a strong enough power supply to power it. It doesn’t matter.
However, when it comes to the yogi, the Beatles weren’t the only ones to believe. He had many famous people among his millions of followers. Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, the Beach Boys and even Vidal Sassoon are said to have studied under the Maharishi. Some of them put their guru out of India, but the Beatles went on the all-inclusive illumination tour to the sacred “Valley of the Saints” in Rishikesh, where Maharishi’s ashram was located.
I myself was in Rishikesh in India and stayed in an ashram. Although I only lasted a day. The rooms were empty, which he could deal with. However, the atmosphere was more like a prison than a place of spirituality. Silence prevailed for most of the day and even during talking hours, people just whispered. Nobody laughed or made jokes. There was an air of repression everywhere. Meal times and curfew were strict and ridiculously early. Who wants to have dinner at 6pm and be locked in their cells at 9pm? Of course, smoking was prohibited, as were alcohol and meat. The food consisted mainly of light colored dhal with dark colored dhal and was served on a large metal tray. After each meal, I had to rinse the tray and take it to my room. At five-thirty in the morning, a bell would ring and the prisoners, pitiful spiritualists, would emerge from their rooms rubbing their sleepy eyes as they carried their metal trays into the kitchen to refill themselves with dhal.
The Beatles had it much better than that. Although ashrams are meant to be simple, one could call them primitive, the one the Beatles visited was of a different standard. His was designed with Westerners in mind: wealthy Westerners. It was described as luxurious, but also seedy. Even in 1968, its rooms had electric heaters, running water, bathrooms, and European-style furniture. Your meals were cooked by an English chef. They even had an Indian tailor on the premises. He was responsible for creating those Indian-inspired multi-colored sequined outfits that the Beatles, and everyone else after them, wore thereafter. The routine at their ashram was relaxed and they spent most of their time playing and composing music, that is, when they weren’t attending group meditation meetings and private lessons with their guru. What fun they had! It was Ringo Starr who named his ashram Butlins Holiday Camp.
Today, Rishikesh is known as the yoga capital of the world. The yogi and his Beatles certainly helped bring this city, once just a small town in the foothills of the Himalayas, to the attention of the Western world. For Hindus, however, Rishikesh has always been a place of the highest religious importance. According to legend, Lord Rama came here to do penance for killing Ravana, a demon king and his younger brother Lakshmana is said to have crossed the river Ganges exactly at the point where the famous ‘Lakshman Jhula’ bridge stands today. Hindus still come to Rishikesh to worship, but most visitors are now Westerners looking for enlightenment, a yoga holiday, or just to see what it’s all about.
When I reached Rishikesh, I was sorely disappointed. I blame the guides, who made it sound like there was peace to be found, a calm atmosphere conducive to meditation, the sound of bells ringing through the valley at sunset. I believe this is what it once was, a sleepy little riverside village, with monks and spiritualists wandering the narrow streets in search of true happiness and enlightenment. I wonder if it was like that when the Beatles were there. It is certainly not so now.
The modern city of Rishikesh is a large, bustling, noisy and rather dirty city that stretches for several kilometres. After forty years of international tourism, there are now masses of guest houses, hotels, yoga centers and ashrams. Money has been earned and reinvested in building more guesthouses, ashrams, tacky shops and conventional restaurants. They still don’t serve alcohol in the 25 kilometer radius as I’m told, but other than that there’s nothing you can’t get here. It is impossible to escape the deafening sound of motorbikes honking their horns constantly and for no apparent reason, interspersed with the sound of the engine of the big trucks going up and down the hills to deliver building materials for more guesthouses, ashrams… you know, everything.
Meditation and Rishikesh now seems like an odd combination, as it’s impossible to find a quiet spot in this bustling metropolis. I found no peace, no enlightenment, not even a decent yoga class. The second day I left town in a hurry. Very similar to the Beatles, who stuck around a bit longer but all left before their scheduled release dates. Ringo and Paul left after two weeks because they didn’t like the food, I don’t blame them. Harrison and Lennon stayed a bit longer and had a good time, but after a few weeks they had a big fight with the Maharishi.
By now, the Maharishi’s business sense was perceived as greed and calculation. John, in particular, began to criticize the Maharishi’s money and fame-oriented behaviour. When on top of that the rumor spread that the supposedly celibate guru had tried it on the ladies of the group, the last remaining Beatles turned their backs on Rishikesh, the ashram and the yogi. The Maharishi then claimed that it had been his wish for the group to leave because he had caught them using drugs, which was against ashram rules.
1968 went down in history as the Beatles’ Indian Summer. They had been looking for something to stabilize them, to help them get off LSD and rekindle their creativity. In fact, the period in Rishikesh was one of the Beatles’ most creative, and in just a few weeks, they composed nearly 48 songs, many of which appeared on their White Album. John Lennon got his revenge by creating a song, with the angry and accusing lyrics “What have you done? You made a fool of everyone.” He called the song Maharishi, but later changed the title.
I was glad to have reached such an important place in religion and modern history. Frankly though: Rishikesh, India didn’t do it for me.