Martin Says: 

August 3rd, 2009 at 4:07 am

Hello, 

The ashram was abandoned in 1984 because the supreme court of India turned the whole place into a national park called the Shahaji National park. The Maharishi did not own this place and had it on lease. Once the ruling was passed, there was little the Maharishi could do but abandon the land. Just weeks before the place had to be abandoned, the local forest authorities told the ashram workers that they could take with them all that they could before the deadline and because of this there are no switchboards, taps, furniture and metal parts left in the ashram. Everything was ransacked and sold off in the local market.

The meditation halls were aircondtioned… In the 1960′s n that too in an Indian forest! There was a helipad, a post office and a bank inside the ashram. All this made the place pretty remarkable. 

A lot of private companies are interested in acquiring this property and turning it into a meditation resort but the Indian forest act does not allow this. Only government bodies are allowed to touch the place and Indian government being corrupt and lethargic, you can expect this place to rot and crumple one day for sure. 

There is only one guard looking after the place. By law, no on is allowed to enter this ruins but the guards are lenient and let people inside if you just hand them some money. 

If anyone wants to get there, get to rishikesh and ask for ‘chaurasi kuti’ which means 84 huts in Hindi. The ashram had roughly 84 huts, hence the name. 

Also, there is a ‘Vithal ashram’ in rishikesh. The locals might guide you to that ashram because vithal and beatles sound the same to them. Just ask them to take you to chaurasi kuti across the ‘barage’ which means a dam. So if you want to get to the ashram, cross the dam over the Ganga and get to the other side. There is a ferry service too.    

Ok.. Take care all.