Heritage

Beatles Ashram

#3of 6 places to visit in RishikeshRishikesh, Uttarakhand

Also known as Chaurasi Kutia · Maharishi Ashram · International Academy of Meditation

Quick answer

Opening hours: 09:00–17:00. Entry: ₹150 Indian · ₹1,200 foreign. Allow 1.5 hrs. Best time: 09:00 – 11:00.

Updated 18 September 2026 · Compiled by Traveliac, AI-assisted · 5 min read

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Photo: Guy P Atkinson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Opening hours: 09:00–17:00
Entry fee: ₹150 Indian; Ticket from
Time needed: 1.5 hrs
Best time of day: 09:00 – 11:00
Best months: Feb – May, Sep – Nov
Address: Chaurasi Kutia, near Swarg Ashram, Rajaji Tiger Reserve buffer zone, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand 249304

About Beatles Ashram

Beatles Ashram, properly Chaurasi Kutia or "eighty-four huts," occupies 14 acres on a forested bluff above the Ganga where Maharishi Mahesh Yogi built a meditation academy in 1963, on land leased from the Uttar Pradesh forestry department two years earlier and funded substantially by a $100,000 gift from the American heiress Doris Duke. The Beatles lived here from 16 February to 12 April 1968, the most productive songwriting stretch of their career, and today the abandoned concrete meditation pods and the former lecture hall, now covered floor to ceiling in murals as the self-styled "Beatles Cathedral Gallery," are the site's main draw. Entry costs ₹150 for Indian nationals and ₹1,200 for foreign nationals as of 2026, and still photography is included in that ticket.

Best time of day: 09:00 – 11:00. When the light through the sal forest canopy is best for photographing the murals and the site has not yet filled with the midday tour groups arriving from Haridwar.

Beatles Ashram timings

Beatles Ashram opens at 09:00 and closes at 17:00. Those hours hold on Saturday and Sunday too.

Opening hours: 09:00–17:00; Mon–Sun 09:00–17:00
Closed on: Open every day

Mon–Sun	09:00–17:00

Opening hours compiled from uttarakhandtourism.gov.in and public records, last updated 18 September 2026. They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides

Beatles Ashram ticket price

Entry fees for Beatles Ashram
Ticket	Price
Indian visitors	₹150
Foreign visitors	₹1,200
Children	Free
Camera	Free

Still photography is included in the entry ticket; no separate child fee is listed. These figures have held since the site's 2015 reopening — as of 2026, verify at the counter, since Rajaji Tiger Reserve periodically revises forest-site pricing.

Prices compiled from uttarakhandtourism.gov.in and public records, last updated 18 September 2026. They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides

Best time to visit Beatles Ashram

Quiet
Moderate
Busy

09:00 – 11:00
Morning quietBest time to go
First entries of the day have the murals largely to themselves. Forest birdsong is audible and the light through the canopy is best for photography.
Quiet
11:00 – 14:00
Day-tour peak
Group tours arriving from Haridwar and Dehradun fill the lecture hall and the main meditation-pod cluster. Expect to wait for a clear shot of the Cathedral Gallery murals.
Busy
14:00 – 16:00
Afternoon lull
Crowds thin as day-trip groups move on to Lakshman Jhula or head back toward Haridwar. A comfortable window for an unhurried walk-through.
Moderate
16:00 – 17:00
Last entry
Gate staff begin winding down; last entry is typically around 16:00–16:30 ahead of the 17:00 closing. Light is soft but fades quickly under the forest canopy.
Quiet

History of Beatles Ashram

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi established the ashram in 1963 as a training centre for teachers of Transcendental Meditation, building stone bungalows, a lecture hall, and rows of individual meditation cells shaped like beehives into the hillside, each just large enough for a cushion and a small ventilation slit. The Beatles arrived in February 1968 alongside Mia Farrow, Donovan, and Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and the group's roughly eight-week stay produced the bulk of the material for the White Album, including songs written directly about the ashram and its residents, such as "Dear Prudence," composed for Farrow's sister after she withdrew into prolonged solitary meditation. The ashram's active life ended within a few years of the Beatles' departure, and by the 1970s it stood largely empty; the forestry department formally reclaimed the lease in 2003 after decades of disuse, during which the buildings sat locked inside the surrounding tiger reserve, visited mainly by trespassing backpackers. The Uttarakhand Forest Department cleared the site, stabilised the structures, and reopened it to the public in December 2015 as a managed heritage attraction, permitting a rotating cast of visiting street artists to paint the old lecture hall and several meditation huts with Beatles-themed murals.

Rules & etiquette at Beatles Ashram

Beatles Ashram sits inside an active tiger reserve buffer zone, so visitors are required to keep to the marked paths between the ticket gate and the ruins rather than wandering into the surrounding forest. A single ticket counter near the entrance issues tickets for both Indian and foreign rates; there is no separate line for photography permits, though visitors bringing professional video equipment or a tripod for commercial shoots should check with the gate staff first. New graffiti on the walls is prohibited beyond the curated murals already in place, and forest department staff patrol the grounds to enforce this. Litter bins are provided near the old lecture hall and should be used, since the site sits within protected forest rather than a municipal area with regular waste collection. Guides are not compulsory but a handful work informally near the gate for ₹200–300 for a 45-minute walk-through.

Tips for visiting Beatles Ashram

1
Beatles Ashram pairs naturally with a visit to Ram Jhula and Parmarth Niketan, both a short auto-rickshaw ride away on the same east bank, and most visitors budget 90 minutes to walk the full site rather than rushing the highlights. The forest floor between structures is uneven and often damp, so closed shoes are more useful here than the sandals that work fine elsewhere in Rishikesh. Water is not sold inside the gate, so carry a bottle, particularly in the pre-monsoon heat of April and May when the concrete meditation pods trap warmth. Beatles fans making a specific pilgrimage should look for hut number 9, popularly identified as George Harrison's room, and the roofless meditation dome above the main hall, which has the best acoustic and photographic vantage over the Ganga valley below.

How to reach Beatles Ashram

The red star is Beatles Ashram; the numbered pins are the 5 nearest places in our guides, each showing its rank in its city. Tap a pin for details.

Chaurasi Kutia, near Swarg Ashram, Rajaji Tiger Reserve buffer zone, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand 249304Directions in Google Maps

From Rishikesh Railway Station
₹100–150
6 km · 20 min
Negotiated
From Lakshman Jhula
₹60–80
2 km · 10 min
By auto; free on foot
From Haridwar Junction
₹40–60
30 km · 65 min
Shared jeep) + ₹100–150 (auto

Nearest airport

From Jolly Grant Airport (Dehradun)

40 km northwest

Nearest railway station

From Rishikesh Railway Station

6 km; Haridwar Junction – 30 km

Beatles Ashram FAQs

How much does it cost to enter Beatles Ashram?

₹150 for Indian nationals and ₹1,200 for foreign nationals, as of 2026. Still photography is included in the ticket price; verify current rates at the gate, since Rajaji Tiger Reserve periodically revises forest-site pricing.

Is the Beatles Ashram the actual place where the Beatles wrote songs for the White Album?

Yes. The Beatles lived at this site, then Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Chaurasi Kutia ashram, from 16 February to 12 April 1968 and wrote the bulk of the White Album here, including "Dear Prudence" and "Across the Universe."

Why was the ashram abandoned and how did it reopen?

The ashram fell into disuse within a few years of the Beatles' 1968 visit, and the Uttar Pradesh forestry department formally reclaimed its lease in 2003 after decades of neglect. The Uttarakhand Forest Department restored access and reopened it as a managed heritage site in December 2015.

Are the murals at Beatles Ashram original from the 1960s?

No. The murals covering the old lecture hall and meditation huts were painted by visiting street artists after the site's 2015 reopening, not by the Beatles or during their 1968 stay. The physical structures — the meditation pods, lecture hall, and stone bungalows — are original.

Compiled with AI assistance from official sources and public records, and published only after the checks in How we write these guides. Nobody from Traveliac has visited this place. Last updated 18 September 2026. How we rank and check places