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- the end of course group photo
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- temple & courtyard of ashram
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- the view from my balcony
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- Entrance to the ashram from the river
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- my room was on the top floor there…
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- From 1 of my medititation spots
Imagine if you will: The hot mid-afternoon sun warming the cool Ganges river air which is ruffling the tree leaves in a century old ashram’s garden. For me, that is easier to imagine than to even dream that I could take a nap outside in India in the mid-afternoon. Much less, to sleep on my yoga mat on a less used sidewalk with only my flip flops and a sarong as my pillow.
Yet, Rishikesh’s Phool Chatti Ashram is a magically peaceful place. For more than 150 years, the ashram was a place for Hindu pilgrims to stop on their way to the source of the Ganges up in the Himalayas. A place where they could rest, eat, pray and meditate at the temple, and meet with the resident swami. The road was only built about fifty years ago and electricity was added about 10 years ago. The ashram air and most of the quietly happy staff almost seemed to have been steeped in a soup of serenity and peace. The only sound at night is usually the roar of the mighty Ganges’ rapids a mere 300 yards away.
During the ashram’s seven day yoga and meditation courses, the silence continues until after lunch as participants are requested to maintain silence from the 5:30 wake up call and through the meditation, breathing exercises, 90 minute yoga classes, and the guided walks to a mountainous view point, a waterfall, and a swimming hole in a Ganges tributary. Blissful silence in which the only thing you hear are the birds, the river, and the yoga teacher’s voice. Our 21-member, largely Australian class maintained the morning silence up until the last two days. During the 1 to 3 pm break, I would often slip away and try to meditate along the river somewhere. After surviving the 10 day Vipassana course, I was unwilling to break the meditation habit quite yet.
During the 8:30 to 9 evening meditation, five different meditations methods were taught by either the yoga teacher, Lalita ji, or the lecturer, Sati ji. These methods included a guided insight meditation which scanned the body, a guided loving compassion similar to the Tibetan Lam Rim method, a yoga nidra meditation which can almost be similar to a hypnosis, mantra chanting, and listening to a Sikh meditation song. The 6 to 6:30 morning meditation was always silent one.
The yoga classes were hatha yoga in the morning which primarily meant the same daily routine of warming up the various joints and parts of the body. The afternoon class were a tougher ashtanga yoga style but Lalita ji varies the difficulty of the classes based on the skill levels of the students. So, the classes I attended ended up being probably considered a high beginner class. Her flat delivery and her clear boredom with the class and the routines didn’t endear her to me. Yet, the yoga hall also overlooks the Ganges and the garden so how picky should I be? This same view from the nearby balcony outside of my room charmed me every time I looked outside – which I did often as I sat on the ubiquitous plastic chair while reading from the ashram’s library or writing in my journal.
The ashram’s food was often outstanding. Lunch and dinner always had dal (the bean based soup), chapatis, and rice but often had one or two vegetable options which were always well cooked and well balanced in flavors sometimes surprisingly spicy. We sometimes got a little sweet to eat after lunch. Breakfast was always oatmeal porridge with a bountiful fruit salad of oranges, pomegranate seeds, bananas, papaya, and grapes. Meals and the walks were the highlights of our days.
The course also featured a lecture class on aspects on yoga philosophy taught by the kindly and learned
American Sikh named Sati-ji. Since we spent the entire lecture hour on the sixth day giving feedback to him and to Lalita ji about our experience and the other lectures were free form discussion based loosely on class handouts, hopefully the lectures will be more structured and in-depth in the future. After the afternoon yoga class, the ashram has the evening puja which involves singing bhajans (religious songs) around the fire pit and everyone is welcome to attend. I went once and skipped it after that as it just seemed to drag on and on and the print out with the songs was almost useless if you wanted to sing along.
So, maybe, I just wasn’t in the right mental space to play well with others so I looked at many of the group activities with a rather jaundiced eye. Maybe, the classes were too much at a beginner level. Yet, I would still recommend this ashram to others because of the beauty, the peace, and the food and the basic introduction to yoga. Besides, anyone who has ever traveled in India for even a week can really appreciate the true rarity of a place of genuine quiet in this country…much less somewhere they can slip into a nap outside in the garden.
Logistical note: Rishikesh is located north of New Dehli and can be easily reached by three daily 4 ½ hour fast trains to Haridwar. Then, either bus, taxi, or rickshaw for about an hour to Rishikesh. There are many other train and bus options between Rishikesh and Dehli. There is a direct train from Rishikesh to Dharamsala.
For course schedules, the Phool Chatti website: www.phoolchattiyoga.com or www.healthyoga.org or their email address is phoolchattiashram@yahoo.com. Phone: (0135)6981303. Courses are generally offered from mid-February to late May and then from mid-September to end of December. The 2009 price for one week was 5,500 rupees (about US$110) which includes a largish, simple, single room with a shared bathroom, three meals a day, and all classes. People can arrive a few days early or stay after the course for 350 rupees for a double room or 400 rupees for a single room which includes meals but no classes are held. Day 1 begins at 3:30 pm and Day 7 ends after lunch.
