The world yoga capital, with a little help from its friends

RISHIKESH: Sitting humbly on the floor in his orange robes, the spiritual head of the biggest ashram in Rishikesh rejoices at how yoga has spread across the globe in the 50 years since The Beatles first visited the holy city.

International Yoga Day, being celebrated on Thursday, was proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 to the UN General Assembly and adopted unanimously. This year tens of thousands will take part worldwide.And the town of Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas 250 kilometres (160 miles) north of Delhi, is the world centre of yoga, drawing tens of thousands of foreign tourists every year to its dozens of ashram retreats and yoga schools.

And this is thanks in no small part to the Fab Four, who came to Rishikesh looking for refuge from Beatlemania, for spiritual enlightenment and to immerse themselves in Indian culture.Staying in an ashram hosted by the magnetic Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, it was a watershed time for the world's most famous bandalthough drummer Ringo Starr, troubled by the food, went home after just 10 days.

Staying in an ashram hosted by the magnetic Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, it was a watershed time for the world's most famous band."They wrote 48 songs here. Many of them appeared on the 'White Album', one of their most successful records," said Raju Gusain,a local journalist.

The last of the band left after eight weeks. The site is now derelict and atmospheric, having been abandoned in 2001, although efforts are under way to spruce it up including fences to keep out tigers from the neighbouring reserve.

But the group's 1968 stay helped to put the town,a centre for yoga for centuries already and long a gateway to other sacred sites on the map for Westerners and Indians alike, while also popularising yoga and meditation.
Atta Kurzmann, an American visiting Rishikesh who was a "great Beatles fan" is now a yoga teacher, was one of those inspired back then.

"The reason I got into Indian spirituality was because of George Harrison and knowing that they came to Rishikesh and were interested in higher forms of consciousness that didn't have to do with drugs was very appealing,That's what got me to India originally when I was in my 20s," she said.

Today Rishikesh attracts around 70-80,000 foreign visitors every year, as well as a great many more Indians wanting to bathe and go white-water rafting in the river, to attend festivals, or visit the sites and escape Delhi's pollution.

Away from the crowds at the Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram and Retreat Centre, the mostly foreign and overwhelmingly young guests pay 1,050 rupees per night for a shared room, vegetarian meals included.

One of them, Mexican Pablo Rueda decided to come for a week after losing his job as an aerospace engineer in Canada."I was depressed and wondering what to do with my life" fresh from a communal breakfast where guests sit on the floor and eat in silence from individual small tables.

It's a tough routine though, with the wake-up bell ringing at 5 am. Guests then do half an hour of meditation, 90 minutes of yoga on the roof as the sun rises and then half an hour chanting mantras around a fire before breakfast.

The rest of the day is free for meditation, reading, chatting and local trips before more yoga at 6 pm, supper and early bed. The facility is not completely cut off from the modern world.