Rishikesh is where the Ganges descends from the Himalayas into the plains, and the geography explains everything about the place. The river runs cold and powerful from the mountains here, and the town that has grown along its banks is split between two identities that exist in constant, productive tension: ancient pilgrimage centre and modern capital of international yoga tourism. Both are entirely genuine.
The city is organised around its bridges. Laxman Jhula, the older of the two famous suspension bridges, connects Tapovan on the west bank with Jonk village on the east — the crossing where Hindu mythology says Lakshmana did penance by crossing the river on a rope. Ram Jhula is wider and more heavily trafficked, with the largest ashram in Rishikesh — Parmarth Niketan — directly on the east bank. Every evening, Parmarth holds the Ganga Aarti ceremony at which priests lower fire to the river as devotees release floating oil lamps into the current. It is as impressive as anything in Varanasi but on a more human scale.
The Beatles Ashram — officially Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Chaurasi Kutia — is now a forest park managed by the Wildlife Institute of India, where the meditation domes and lecture halls where Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr spent two months in 1968 are slowly being reclaimed by the jungle. Neelkanth Mahadev Temple in the forest above Rishikesh is one of the most important Shiva temples in Uttarakhand, reachable by a forest road or a steep 5 km trek from Swarg Ashram.
The Ganges above Rishikesh is the most accessible white-water rafting in India, with the 16 km section from Shivpuri to Neem Beach offering Class II–IV rapids through forested gorges. Yoga centres of all levels and approaches are concentrated around Ram Jhula and Swarg Ashram — Rishikesh is the self-proclaimed yoga capital of the world and, with some caveats about the tourist trade, the infrastructure is genuinely impressive.