Mountain Stories: When the Beatles Came to Town

My wife and I recently returned from a lovely Himalayan vacation. The base I use for all my Himalayan sojourns is the town of Almora, tucked away at 5,500 feet in the Kumaon Himalayas. Apart from the spectacular natural beauty on offer in this part of the world, I have a deep emotional connection to this place. My grandfather was so taken in by the beauty and splendour of the Indian Himalayas, he decided to retire there in 1969. As a child, I made annual pilgrimages to Almora every October to meet my grandfather and soak up the atmosphere of the Himalayas. Most of my most vivid, important childhood memories are from the mountains, where as a child, I spent hours tinkering in my grandfather’s beautiful garden and watching the play of light and shade, cloud and sunshine on the deep, dark forests and snow-covered mountains.

Over the years, the town of Almora has grown exponentially. Like most Indian towns, the growth has been largely unplanned and haphazard. As a result, most of the town has become dirty and crowded. However, my grandfather’s neighbourhood has remained largely unchanged.

But this blog is not about Almora or even the Himalayas. It is about the legend of the Beatles coming to a little village above Almora back in 1968. That the Beatles visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in Rishikesh in 1968 is a documented fact. That they stayed in Rishikesh for three months is also well-documented. However, reliable sources tell me that three of the four Beatles (John, Paul and George) visited a little village above Almora now called “Crank’s Ridge” back in 1968.

Before I get into details, I need to tell you where Crank’s Ridge is. It is located about six kilometres above the town of Almora, at about 6,500 feet. The forested ridge is on the sunny side of the mountain, which means that it does not get too cold, even in the depths of winter. It has a truly spectacular view of the Himalayas, with the 25,600 foot high Nanda Devi peak dominating the horizon. It also has a reputation for being a place with a spiritual aura around it. Famous Indian mystic Swami Vivekananda lived and meditated here in the 1890s. Ever since then, it has seen a steady stream of famous artists, musicians, mystics and cranks (hence the name “Crank’s Ridge” – check it out on wikipedia).

American beat generation poet Allan Ginsberg visited here in 1962, and felt it was a “little like the Catskills in upstate New York, only more spiritual”. Sixties guru and University of California Berkeley professor Timothy Leary lived here for extended periods of time in the 1950s and 1960s. Singers Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens also visited here, as did noted Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, father of the delectable Uma Thurman. In fact, the young Uma Thurman also probably lived here for a little while. Indian dance maestro Uday Shankar (brother of sitar player Ravi Shankar) set up a school for Indian classical dance here in the 1930s. Indian film-maker Guru Dutt also lived here for sometime in the 1950s. These are all documented facts.

Wikipedia also says that Crank’s Ridge is “a cult destination, it now has a small community of backpackers and ex-hippies settled there ever since the place gained the reputation of being a Power Centre during the hippie hey-days. This reputation is due to the alleged gap in the Van Allen Belt above the ridge, a perception arguably strengthened by the free and easy availability of hemp on the slopes. There is also a Buddhist meditation center on the ridge”.

All in all, Crank’s Ridge is a place worth visiting, and I go there every time I am in the mountains. And now, patient reader, I will come back to the question I raised a few paragraphs ago. Did three of the four Beatles visit here in 1968, or is this just another shaggy-dog story? An individual I know and respect has irrefutable proof that Timothy Leary was indeed a frequent visitor to Crank’s Ridge and the town of Almora. Leary was a very close friend of the Beatles. The Beatles were in Rishikesh in 1968. Rishikesh is also a town in the Himalayan foothills, about 250 kilometers away from Almora and Crank’s Ridge. I also have it from reliable sources that George Harrison made several trips to Almora and Crank’s Ridge in the 1970s. This is not surprising, since of all the Beatles, Harrison was the one most attached to India and was also a keen student of Indian music and Hinduism.

If indeed the Beatles made the long and winding journey to Almora and Crank’s Ridge from Rishikesh back in 1968, they would have followed much the same route we did this year. They would have traveled via Deoprayag, Rudgraprayag, Gwaldam and Kausani. Like us, they would probably have had a night-halt at the town of Rudraprayag, the confluence (“sangam”) of the Alakananda and Mandakini rivers, which together form the mighty Ganges. Here one road leads up to that holiest of Hindu pilgrimage towns – Badrinath. Another road leads towards Gwaldam and Almora.

Of course, Almora was a much smaller, more picturesque town back in 1968. Crank’s Ridge today boasts of several high-class resorts, an excellent multi-cuisine Continental restaurant and lovely cottages where old ex-hippies from all over the world live. The place has a real multi-cultural, laid-back feel to it. But back in 1968, it would have been just a collection of stone and slate mountain houses where villagers lived and eked out a living in the terraced fields below.

But could John, Paul and George have come here in 1968? It is not only possible, it is likely. John and George would definitely have been interested. I am not so sure about Paul. George was already sold on India, Indian mythology and music. At the time, John was sold on the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It is very, very possible that they came to Crank’s Ridge in 1968. If that is indeed the case, it is also possible that some of the songs on the landmark 1968 Beatles “White Album” were written here. The Beatles themselves have said that most of the “White Album” was written in India.

I find this whole hypothesis fascinating. Could “Across the Universe” or “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” have been written above Almora, Uttarakhand? It is possible.
Did the three Beatles visit Almora and Crank’s Ridge in 1968? What do you think?