The Beatles Ashram

Yes. They arrived in February 1968 to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and stayed in shifting combinations into April — Ringo left first, then Paul, with John and George staying longest. A very large part of what became the White Album was written during those weeks. The ashram is properly called Chaurasi Kutia; "the Beatles Ashram" is what everyone actually calls it and what the signage now concedes.

The ruin is the point. Domed stone meditation cells with beehive roofs built in clusters, a long roofless lecture hall, residential blocks in varying states of collapse, and overgrown paths between them — the forest took the site back over nearly two decades of abandonment. Since the 2015 reopening visiting artists have painted large murals across many of the interiors, and the contrast between the painted walls and the jungle outside is the site’s defining image.

It is on the east bank beyond Swarg Ashram, so you cross the river by footbridge or ferry and then walk — about twenty to thirty minutes from Ram Jhula along the bank and then uphill, with the last stretch to the gate on foot in any case. It is ticketed and managed by the forest department, with separate rates for Indian and foreign visitors as at any protected site. Nothing needs booking; there is a counter at the gate.

Ninety minutes covers the site at a walk, and two hours if the murals hold you, which for a lot of visitors they do. Add an hour for the walk from Ram Jhula and back. Note that the site keeps daylight hours and closes well before dusk — the closing time is enforced because it sits inside protected forest — so it is a morning or early-afternoon visit rather than a sunset one.

With sensible care. The buildings are unrestored and some are genuinely unsafe: floors are uneven, stairs are broken in places and there are open drops inside some structures, so where something is fenced or signed off that is the reason. Watch your feet rather than your phone, particularly inside the domed cells. The site also sits inside a tiger reserve, so stay on the paths and do not wander past the boundary.

Very little, and it is worth knowing that in advance. There is no memorabilia, no museum and almost no explanatory material — what is here is architecture, jungle and paint. Visitors who want the history of 1968 explained will need either to bring it with them or to take a guide from Rishikesh. For many people the absence of interpretation is exactly what makes the place work, but it does surprise those expecting a Beatles attraction.