About Rishikesh

Rishikesh (also known as Hrishikesh) is a name of Vishnu composed of hṛṣīka meaning 'senses' and īśa meaning 'lord', thus 'Lord of the Senses’.

Rishikesh is a small town located on the foot hills of Himalayas on the banks of the sacred river Ganges in Northern India. It is often referred to as the Yoga and meditation capital of the world. It is not an exaggeration when you say every second door and building in 5 kilometre radius of Ram and Lakshman Jhula is either an Ashram or a renowned yoga center. One keeps wondering how such a small town found prominence for Yoga and Yogis.

Below are a few reasons how Rishikesh gained its spiritual prominence in the Indian context:

• Holy river Ganges emerges from the mountains at Rishikesh and debouches to the Gangetic plains in Haridwar.


• Rishikesh is known as Tapo Bhumi - Lord Rama did penance to kill Ravana.


• Lakshmana Built a Jute rope bride to cross Ganges and exactly at the same place in 1889 an iron rope suspension bridge is built which washed away in 1924 floods, which is again replaced in 1927 with the present stronger bridge.


• Sage Vashishta is believed to have lived on the banks of Ganga and later this region is believed in the Indian tradition to be the abode of sage Vyasa along with Pandavas, the five brothers of Mahabharata. Vashishtha Cave, a cave on the banks of Ganges at Shivpuri, 18 km from Rishikesh is also locally believed to be his winter abode and houses a Shiva temple, also nearby is Arundhati Cave

Rishikesh is an enclave for illustrious saints and sages like Guru Vashishtha, Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya, Adiguru Nilkantha, Baba Kali Kamli Wale Swami Vishudhanand Ji, Swami Shivanand, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Jatawale Baba, Swami Sukhdevanand, Swami Atam Prakash who furthered/established/propagated their spiritual practices at this holy place.

Rishikesh found its place on world map because of the Rock bank “The Beatles” who came in February 1968 to Maharashi Mahesh Yogi Ashram for Spiritual enlightenment and to immerse themselves in Indian culture. The groups stay, put the town on world map and other celebrities like Mick Jagger, Mia Farrow followed suit and the rest is history. Now Every Year thousands of (Foreign) yoga enthusiasts from across the world come to Rishikesh and stay for varied lengths of time learning yoga and (foreign) spiritual seekers come here to find an answer to their spiritual calling through yoga.