Exhibition
Exhibition: The Beatles in India
As news is inherently slow this time of year i thought i would report on a band very close to my heart. If youre heading up to San Francisco this holiday season be sure to check “The Beatles in India” which is showing at the San Francisco Art Exchange. The exhibition by Paul Saltzman titled “The Beatles in India: Creativity and Inner Peace is an account of the Beatles spiritual trip to india and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram. most of the songs written here would end up on the bands infamous ‘White Album’.
In early 1968 The Beatles accompanied by Donovan and an entourage of girlfriends and other hangers on including the so called ‘Magic Alex’ (a name given by Lennon to his friend Yanni Alexis Mardas) all visited India and the Maharishi to be taught one of his ‘Transcendental Meditation’ teacher-training courses in Rishikesh. Paul and Ringo left early with Ringo claiming the food didnt agree with him and Paul for personal reasons. John and George stayed on with Mardas, Cynthia Lennon and Mia Farrow. As a jealous friend Mardas supposedly invented a story that the Maharishi had made sexual advances towards Mia Farrow (something she would later not fully agree too), it is said that Mardas invented this story because he was unhappy with the influence and hold the Maharishi had over Lennon. Feeling betrayed by the Maharishi Lennon, George and co. left India and returned home, Cynthia Lennon would later claim the Mardas had made up this story to undermine the Maharishi’s influence. Paul later, in his biography claimed a similar story to Cynthia’s.
This exhibition is the only documentation of the India visit and is worth a visit to any Beatles fan for sure. you can visit the San Francisco Art Exchange website here, and the Beatles in India exhibition website here.
Tags: Cynthia Lennon, Donovan, George Harrison, India, john Lennon, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Mia Farrow, Paul Mcartney, Paul Saltzman, Ringo Starr, San francisco, The Beatles, Transcendental Meditation, White Album, Yanni Mardas Discussion
7 comments for “Exhibition: The Beatles in India”
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it’s so great that major newspapers are now taking the time to state the facts about what happened in India with the Beatles and Maharishi. those of us practicing TM (including the Beatles) who knew Maharishi all these years were always keenly aware that the story was false, but the press kept on repeating it, over and over. many thanks to the LA Times for helping set the record straight. …Maharishi himself never felt anything but fondness toward the Beatles.
I must say i agree with you, its not until i done some research before posting this article that i realized the extent of the whole matter.I find it impossible to believe that someone of the Maharishi’s stature and belief would behave in such a way, Mardas it seems was one bad apple (bad joke!)
Thanks for this article. Anyone willing to research the facts will find that the whole sad story about Mia was entirely made up, so it’s great to see the press speaking the truth about it. By the way, for readers who want to know more about Maharishi’s teachings, check out Transcendental Meditation::Leadership and Transcendental Meditation : Ask the Doctors
Thank you for mentioning this very interesting exhibit. Like many, I also lament that such a precious time in history,the early stage of Maharishi’s work, continues to be associated with such unpleasant falsehood. However, I sincerely appreciate that you took the time to explain that the story was untrue. Maharishi continued to do great work and his legacy goes on through his non-profit organization. Paul McCartney and Donovan will be performing in a benefit concert for the TM Movement in New York City this Spring. Nice to see that the dream that started so many years ago is still alive and becoming a reality.
Have a look at the san francisco art exchange’s website (www.sfae.com) and you will see Paul Saltzman’s images from the india trip as well as Patty Boyd’s Black and White photographs from the same trip!!
[...] the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/arts/music/07yogi.html?_r=1 and the LA Times http://lattl.com/2008/12/19/exhibition-the-beatles-in-india/ Also read the ‘comment’ below for further information about the Maharishi and the [...]
beautiful photos