The Beatles in Rishikesh

India has long figured in the sexual imagination of Western writers and artists, but back in the 1840’s, when Burton arrived in India, Westerners considered India a declining and decadent culture. Gurus (teachers) had not really registered in the West – Vivekananda in the 1890's would be the first and a stream of them followed. Today Deepak Chopra is just the latest in this distinguished line. Even The Secret’s Laws of Attraction are supposed to be derived from ancient Indian thought. Below is part of Rishikesh today:

The Maharishi's ashram where the Beatles stayed is downriver a bit and it is now a museum.