India Ashram that Inspired the Beatles to Re-Open, 50 Years Later

If you were alive in 1968, you remember it: The Beatles dropped out of Western society, fled Beatlemania, and tuned in at an Indian ashram the well-known guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. When they came back, they had most of White Album written.

Well, for the half-century anniversary of that pop culture milestone it's coming back—albeit in a newer, commercialized form, reports The Hindu. 

Found in Rishikesh, an area long famous for its dozens of spiritual retreats, the 12-acre ashram was until recently a dilapidated mess. It has been off-limits to tourists since 2001 thanks in part to its location near the Rajaji National Park tiger preserve, and the jungle has been aggressively overtaking it.

But now that the area's tiger preservation authority has given the go-ahead, the facility and its 84 soundproofed meditation huts (the ruins of some are pictured above in 2006), will be brought back online. With a slightly depressing twist: There will be a small Beatles museum, too. So much for disconnecting from civilization.

Most of the buildings standing in the Beatles' period are gone, but the late Maharishi's bungalow remains and will be restored. The ashram will also be given an interpretive center for the nearby tiger reserve, reports Bloomberg Pursuits.

A lot has changed in the people, too. Half of the Beatles have passed on, as has John Lennon's then-wife Cynthia, who accompanied him to India but then caught him canoodling with Yoko Ono three months later. Come to think of it, things didn't work out with the girlfriend that Paul McCartney took to India, either; actress and writer Jane Asher dumped him via television five months after the so-called enlightenment vacation and has been with celebrated British artist Gerald Scarfe for 46 years.

So if you're thinking of bringing a significant other with you on your own retreat to the reborn Beatles ashram, think twice.