An Indian Odyssey – The Beatles Ashram

Rishikesh – June/July 2011

The abandoned Maharishi ashram where The Beatles stayed in the 60’s and wrote the White album. It’s a massive overgrown complex with astounding architecture – a real shame that it’s falling into ruins although the abandoned atmosphere makes it pretty special.

The main entrance.

Atop one of the multi-storey accommodation blocks with the forest slowly advancing over the years.

Destroying to create afresh.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Some of the very funky meditation domes. The acoustics inside are very impressive when you bang out an "Om".

Meditation dome and sleeping quarters # 19.

A shrine to Shiva, God of Destruction (in order to create anew)

LSD

All you need is Love.

The encroaching forest.

Frayed electrical cord.

Below, the Bat Quarters…

The bats hang out in the extremely dark meditation cells which are not dissimilar to solitary confinement cells.

‘Om’ – the sound of the universe