MUMBAI: The place not only made headlines back in 1968, but gave the most talked about stories for the years that followed.  An 18 acre ashram which ‘The Beatles’ used for meditating and writing songs for ‘The White Album’ in 1968 has been opened to the public. The ashram was then run by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi a founder of advanced Transcendental Meditation (TM), who died in 2008.

The ashram, which was known as The International Academy of Meditation, also called the ‘Chaurasi Kutia’ ashram, has been opened by authorities on Tuesday; Visitors can see the historical sight by paying Rs 150 ($2.50) for Indian tourists and Rs 700 ($10)  for foreign tourists respectively.

‘The Beatles’ visited India in February 1968 with group of 60 people who were training to be TM teachers, including musicians Donovan, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and flautist Paul Horn. The place was abandoned in 1970s by guru himself and his followers and was taken over by the local forestry department in 2003. It has been a centre of attraction for ‘The Beatles’ fans, which accessed it by paying a small bribe to the gatekeepers.

Senior forestry official Rajendra Nautiyal spoke to BBC "We have cleaned up the place and lined the pathways with flowers. We are making some gardens and putting some benches for visitors. We are introducing a nature trail and a bird walk. We also plan to set up a cafeteria and a souvenir shop at some point. We want to retain the place's rustic look."

Here is the footage of beatles visit:

The main attraction is the abandoned and ghostly ‘Beatles Cathedral’, which used to be a lecture space, now left with paintings, ceilings and windows falling apart with lyrics  written on it,  ‘Love in the heart of man is a shrine to God on Earth.’ ‘Still my guitar gently weeps.’ ‘Give you everything I got for a little peace of mind’. Paul Saltzman, the author of ‘The Beatles’, said that the band wrote some 48 songs during their stay in the ashram in Rishikesh.

Though the trip did not go the way it was planned, Ringo Starr left within 10 days due to food issues, Paul McCartney stayed for a month and John Lennon and George Harrison left abruptly after six weeks.

In an interview back in 1968 John Lennon told an interviewer, “We sort of feel that Maharishi for us was a mistake, really. We don’t think that the Meditation was a mistake. I think we had a false impression of Maharishi, like people do of us, you know.”

The ashram which was known as The International Academy of Meditation, also called the ‘Chaurasi Kutia’ ashram has been opened by authorities on Tuesday; visitors can see the  historical sight by paying 150 ($2.50) for Indian tourists and 700 ($10) rupees for foreign tourists respectively.