Beatles’ fans all set to celebrate 50 years of the band’s visit to Rishikesh

As Uttarakhand state government and Beatles fans plan to celebrate the 50 years of the visit of the famous Beatles band to Rishikesh, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ashram, where the band members stayed, has already become a major tourist attraction earning valuable money for the forest department.

The Beatles band group members stayed at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram known as Chaurasi Kutia which is situated in the Rajaji Tiger Reserve near Rishikesh town in 1968. The Chaurasi Kutia, the ashram which was in a dilapidated condition is being taken care of by the forest department. The ashram attracts Beatles’ fans from across the globe.

As per the state government records, the ashram earned a total of ₹ 20.33 lakh in the year 2017 as entry fee. A total of 12,107 Indian and 744 foreigners visited the ashram from January 1 till November 30, 2017. In 2016, a total of 8268 Indians and 1173 foreigners visited the ashram which is considered a pilgrimage place for Beatles fans. The forest department charges ₹600 per person from foreigners and ₹150 per person from Indians as the entry fee. The Uttarakhand government has been planning to celebrate the occasion during the International Yoga Festival starting at Rishikesh from March 1, 2018. The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi foundation also would be chipping in to celebrate 50 years of the visit of Beatles group. New toilets, a photo gallery of rare photos of the group during their stay, a coffee shop and a souvenir shop are proposed to be established at the ashram.

The Beatles group members had visited the ashram in 1968 to learn transcendental meditation from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It had created quite a stir amongst their fans across the globe at that time.

Meanwhile, the award-winning ‘The Beatles Story’ in Liverpool is also celebrating 50 years since The Beatles travelled to Rishikesh in India with the launch of a new special exhibition. ‘The Beatles story’ is the world's largest permanent exhibition purely devoted to the lives and times of The Beatles at Liverpool.

‘Beatles in India’ exhibition at Liverpool will look at this key and relatively secretive part of ‘The Beatles’ story’ with never-before-seen memorabilia, imagery and personal accounts from the people who were there with the band in 1968.

A sitar used by Ravi Shankar will go on display within the new immersive area, loaned to ‘The Beatles Story’ by the Ravi Shankar Foundation. As George Harrison’s mentor, Ravi Shankar’s influence on the Beatle’s ultimately helped in popularising the use of Indian instruments in 1960s pop music.

The exhibit will also include photographs by Paul Saltzman, a sound engineer for the National Film Board of Canada at the time, who photographed The Beatles during their stay. He is responsible for some of the most iconic and intimate images of the ‘Fab Four’ in India.