Yoga capital of the world — Ganges, ashrams, and adrenaline
Rishikesh is where the Ganges descends from the Himalayas into the plains, and where the Beatles arrived in 1968 to study Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi — sparking a global yoga tourism movement that never stopped. Today it is the world's undisputed capital of yoga and white-water rafting in the same city, with evening Ganga Aarti fire ceremonies illuminating the ghats.
Rishikesh has been a pilgrimage site since at least the 9th century, when Adi Shankaracharya is believed to have stopped here on his tour of India's sacred sites. The town sits at the gateway to Char Dham — the four holiest Hindu shrines in the Himalayas — making it the traditional launching point for pilgrimages to Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri.