Rishikesh: For Seeking and Stillness

The city of Rishikesh is named after Lord Krishna. As Rishikesh, or Hrishikesh to be phonetically more correct, he is considered ‘the Lord who controls His senses’. The city of Rishikesh, though created with the intention of helping man withdraw all his senses and sit deep in contemplation, today has become a hub of all things bright, colourful and full of contradictions. You can find the serene orange-clad sadhus sitting by the side of Mother Ganga deep in contemplation and just across the river you will find a nightclub with half-clothed people bobbing to loud Bollywood music.Considered the home of Yoga, Rishikesh has attracted tourists, travellers and seekers of every kind—hence the contradiction. For the sincere seeker, the ashrams of Swami Sivananda and Paramarth Niketan act as beacons and to the curious and just-discovering-themselves type—there exist a million classes from reiki healing to past life regressions to plant medicine therapy..I chose Rishikesh for my retreat despite this dichotomy because the air of the Himalayas and the green waters of the Ganga will force one to seek beyond the obvious—even if they get carried away with the myriad alluring distractions. I wanted my city-bound friends and students to feel this. So, we packed our bags and went on a yoga retreat. We stayed at the serene and quiet Osho’s Mikada ashram. Our first day was spent eating the delicious and lovingly prepared food and then frolicking in Mother Ganga's cool and healing water.The next day I decided to send my students on a scavenger/treasure hunt of the holy city. I divided the group into four teams and handed out a set of 15 challenges to each. What were the challenges you ask? Well, they ranged from taking a picture with a Gir cow, to talking to a sadhu and asking him what his life story was, to doing yoga by the banks of Ganga to finding the tastiest street food in Rishikesh. My students had a blast and I finally asked them to meet me at the Beatles ashram where we would decide who the winner of the challenge was..Now before you think it—no, the ashram is not made by or in honour of the band, The Beatles. It was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram many years ago—he was the teacher of Sri Sri Ravishankar and many other great teachers. The space/ashram was made famous by The Beatles who visited there often and wrote a number of their hit songs whilst living there. After Maharishi’s demise, the ashram became the government’s property and has turned into a space where many graffiti artists from around the world have made the biggest art installations.It’s truly a sight to behold and I wanted my students to see how even the most derelict of buildings can hold so much beauty.As we sat together in The Beatles ashram, each team narrated their adventures and their many learnings—I could sense the ‘seeker’ spirit of Rishikesh enter their minds. They found joy in knowing the stories of the common flower seller, the history of the temples and just watching and practising yoga near the incredible Gange—all other drama of life took a backseat and that was powerful to watch!.A trip to Rishikesh is not just a vacation, it's a pilgrimage to the heart.