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WELLNESS GOES BACK TO ITS ROOTS Spiritual seekers have been drawn to the hills around , in the Indian , for thousands of years. MARCIA DE SANCTIS visits a trio of high-end retreats that are channeling the region’s singular energy in newly sophisticated ways.

FEW MINUTES into my pizhichil ayurvedic pitcher over my calves. There was nothing to do treatment at Ananda in the Himalayas, I but lie still and marinate. I was in , after all, opened my eyes to get my bearings. Above me, and wellness is different there. You even could a spa attendant was filling up a brass pot and say it began there. handing it to a colleague, who then doused Ananda sits on a hill overlooking the city of my body in a stream of warm oil. Specifically, Rishikesh and the turquoise waters of the A dhanwantharam oil, which is infused with 28 River, which Hindus consider sacred. For centuries, aromatic herbs—all indigenous to the Himalayas—and is pilgrims have traveled to the area to bathe in the river, thought to reduce inflammation and stress. “Be relaxed,” visit religious sites in the nearby Himalayan foothills, the second attendant said, directing the contents of the and meditate on its banks. It was in Rishikesh that COURTESY OF VANA COURTESY

42 TRAVEL+LEISURE | AUGUST 2020 A flute lesson in the Bodhi Tree meditation room at Vana, a retreat outside Rishikesh, India. Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa, which opened in late 2019, has commanding views of the Ganges. EXPERIENCES EXPERIENCES

Early-morning sun salutations at Ananda in the Himalayas.

the fame-weary Beatles sought enlightenment at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram, inspiring generations of seekers and backpackers to follow in their wake. The city bills itself as the capital of the world; each year, the largest yoga festival on the planet is held at one of its hundreds of registered ashrams. When Ananda opened 20 years ago, it was the first property to interpret the region’s ancient wellness culture for an upscale, international audience. Today, it’s one of a clutch of retreats in the area pitched at travelers who like their Savasana served with a cashmere blanket. The newest addition is Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa, opened last year. The retreat is perched high on a hillside above the Ganges, which here—close to its Himalayan glacier source—flows fresh and eye-wateringly blue- green. Across the river rise peaks crisscrossed guru to guide meditation or pranayama (yogic with 400-year-old pilgrim’s paths. It’s a location breathing exercises), but its wellness programs that lends itself perfectly to purification and can also include something as simple as hiking well-being, says Indian-Canadian businessman a mountain trail or enjoying a spell of silence in Arjun Mehra, who developed the property with the woods. One free afternoon, I was lulled into his father, Ravi. “It calms the spirit which calms contemplation on the hotel’s own white sandy the mind which calms the body,” Arjun told me. beach, just watching the river rush by. “People As might a glass of wine on the stone terrace. connect with the Ganges, no matter what their “We are not strict like an ashram, where you religion,” general manager Devraj Singh said. sleep on a concrete slab,” he added with a laugh. “It’s incredibly healing.” At Taj, the wellness program can be formal Halfway down the hill toward the river stands or loose. The hotel can design an intense multi- an indoor/outdoor yoga studio and an outpost of

week detox or yoga package with a dedicated Jiva Spa, Taj’s standard-setting wellness brand. At SPA OF ANANDA COURTESY HOTELS; OF TAJ COURTESY TOP: FROM

44 TRAVEL+LEISURE | AUGUST 2020 A Hindu diya, or devotional oil lamp, forms part of a treatment at Vana. EXPERIENCES EXPERIENCES

Serene views from the Riverside restaurant at Taj Rishikesh.

the spa, I was met with a warm brew made with highlights, and I made secret stockpiles of the jaggery (pure cane sugar), lime, and tulsi (holy fantastic amaranth-and-raw-cocoa brownies. basil) before settling in for a purifying scrub with Wearing the resort uniform of a fresh Himalayan salt and coconut. The hotel’s Rock white kurta, or tunic, with white pants and Flour restaurant—named after the tiny particles a prayer necklace, I headed to my daily of glacial stone that give this part of the Ganges activities: surprisingly entertaining lectures by its extraordinary color—has an ayurvedic menu a scholar of Hindu philosophy, treatments in made with ingredients grown locally, in the the 24,000-square-foot spa, laps in the lushly region’s rich soil. Big on Himalayan staples like landscaped pool. And to yoga class, which was lentils, millet, and root vegetables, it’s heaven a revelatory series of classical hatha basics. As for the wheat-averse. Ananda’s yoga director, Sundeep Agarwalla, Twenty-eight miles east, Ananda draws its explained, “Though we have postures and wellness philosophy directly from the Vedas, different levels of practice, we treat yoga as it the Hindu scriptures. Owner Ashok Khanna, a was originally intended.” In other words, not veteran hotelier and grandson of Mohan Singh as a physical exercise but as a spiritual one. Oberoi, founder of the Oberoi hotel group, built the retreat when the tech boom hit India, causing stress levels to spike. After visiting spas all over the world, he turned his attention

homeward. “Why not offer what comes from Rishikesh right here?” he said. CHINA A former maharajah’s palace is Ananda’s PAKISTAN opulent focal point, and the grounds are New Delhi NEPAL peppered with palm trees and the royal family’s G A N marble pavilions. Most guests arrive and hunker G ES R down for intense yoga, meditation, or weight- IV ER management retreats, all of which incorporate diet recommendations from one of the spa’s ayurvedic doctors. “It’s not about juicing here,” said Divya Babbar, Ananda’s marketing manager. A doctor determined my dosha—the ruling energy that defines my constitution—and BANGLADESH prescribed a menu to keep me in balance. The India

bottle-gourd soup and semolina gnocchi were PARSEY MAY BY ILLUSTRATION OF VANA. COURTESY HOTELS; OF TAJ LEFT:FROM COURTESY

INDIAN OCEAN 46 TRAVEL+LEISURE | AUGUST 2020 EXPERIENCES 48 my regimen my alsohelped equilibrium.Not on stews andcurries, fish porridges in kormas, and walks through lychee orchards. The vegetable schedule, soItook yoga classes andpeaceful channels with warm, healing herbal poultices. a prayerTibetan anddotted my body’s nerve gyi metsamassage, where my therapist recited arrayboggling of treatments. My stop: first ahor selves require, andthen prescribes from amind- identifies what each guest’s innerandouter healing practice of Sowa Rigpa. Adoctor traditional Chinesemedicine,andthe Tibetan Swedish massage integrate with , each guest’s individual needs.Reflexology and almostinstantly.”begins of operations Prasoon Pandey said. “The calm “You feel guarded, you feel protected,” director ceramic birds floated from the25-foot ceiling. from silkworm cocoons of andaflock white massive Zen ballroom, where chandeliers made sunlit common area before opened melike a all thechaos andcolor of India dissolved. The calls thekila, Singh’s words, “a spiritually potent place.” Buddhism renders inowner thelocation, Veer and theseat of anexiled of school Tibetan in 2014.Proximity to Rishikesh, theGanges, most sought-after retreats since itslaunch and luxury thathasmadeitoneof the world’s offers asingularmixture of spirituality, wellness, ancient hardwood forest, aretreat named Vana

The doctor also left ample free alsoleft The doctor timeonmy Vana is nearly obsessive initsapproach to enteredWhen Ifirst thelobby—which Vana ofAn hournorth Ananda,on 21acres of TRAVEL+LEISURE |AUGUST 2020 meaning “fortress” inSanskrit—

wellness. It was justour way of life.” it upsimply: “We never called it Ananda’s Ashok Khannasummed in the West triessohard to imitate. centuries—and the wellness industry ofpart perfecting India hasbeen for for harmony thatthismountainous Opulence and restraint. It is the search balance of body, mind,andsoul. then withyourself.and wisdom and connecting first withancient but rather taking aprofound pause, marching inanddemandingafacial, candle flame. Thisplace isnotabout to anhourof meditation staring ata and,later, pool indoor succumbed as Iswam inthe sanctuary-like of “retreat” clear became at Vana, Singh explained. For me,theconcept new and provocative life exploration,” health, maybe, atotally orto begin catalyst for ajourney. To improve reduction. “I want Vana the to be weight loss, detox, orstress of objectives:pursuit theirpersonal at Vana, butmany spend weeks in happy here,” Singhsaid. control theirexperience are not takeover. “Those who wantto to Vana’s rhythms and let theexperts Ilearned,without. It to isbest, submit form of caffeine, which Itriedto do my meal plan:lattes orany other Inner andouter well-being, the Five nights istheminimumstay Spa Rishikesh & Resort half-hour drive, Taj minimum) $610,from five-night (vana.co.in; doubles Dehradun. in expanded airport to recently the $3,975 person), per from trips 12-night frontiers.co.uk; bealby@wild Jonny Bealby is a75-minute drive. minimum) five-night $245, from doubles (ananda Himalayasthe drive, in and Ananda atwo-hour is about $245)doubles from Indigo on an hour north you fly can capital, From Indian the U.S.the to New Delhi. from direct service offer airlines Multiple PLANNER TRIP these retreats. retreats. these one ormore of that incorporate create itineraries can specialist, A-List and an India a member of T+L the

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