500 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh

The 500-hour programme is our 200 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh and our 300 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh combined into one continuous training. You don't apply to them separately — you enrol once, arrive once, and complete both modules in a single stay at our Tapovan campus.

Month 1: 200-Hour Foundation (Days 1–25)

The first 25 days cover everything in our standalone 200-hour YTT. You'll start with Hatha and Ashtanga Vinyasa asana, learn pranayama and meditation from scratch, study the Yoga Sutras, get a working understanding of anatomy, and begin teaching practice classes to your peers. Even if you've never taught before, you'll be cueing poses by week two.

Month 2: 300-Hour Advanced Module (Days 26–53)

Month two picks up right where month one left off — no gap, no break between the modules. This is the advanced work: deeper sequencing, biomechanics and skeletal variation, hands-on adjustment clinics, the Bhagavad Gita, advanced meditation techniques, and a full business-of-yoga section. By the end of month two, you're teaching complete 75-minute classes with modifications and adjustments.

The Structure at a Glance

The campus, teachers, and daily schedule stay the same across the full eight weeks. The only thing that changes is the depth and complexity of the material.

Course Fee

Shared room: $2,250 USD for the full 53 days.

Private room: $2,650 USD for the full 53 days.

For how these fees sit against other schools, read what a yoga teacher training in Rishikesh actually costs.

A 25% deposit secures your seat — that's $563 for shared or $663 for private. You can pay the deposit online. The balance is due on arrival in cash or by bank transfer.

Early Bird Discount

Book six or more months before your start date and you'll get 5% off the total fee. That brings the shared room price down to $2,138 and the private room to $2,518. Seats are limited per batch, so earlier bookings have a better chance.

What's Included

Tuition for both the 200-hour and 300-hour modules. Accommodation for 53 nights. Three vegetarian meals daily. Course books and manuals. Weekend excursions including the Kunjapuri Temple trek, Vashishth Cave visit, waterfall hikes, and Ganga Aarti. Wi-Fi and laundry access. That's everything except your flights and visa.

Cancellation Policy

Cancel 30 or more days before your start date and you get a full refund. Cancel less than 30 days out and the deposit isn't refundable. You can change your start date once, for free, up to 7 days before your original date — just give us a genuine reason. No-shows without notice forfeit the entire booking. If we cancel a batch, you choose between a full refund or a free reschedule within 12 months.

I've already outlined the month-by-month structure above. Here's the detail on each subject area across the full 53 days.

A 500-hour programme gives you more mat hours, more teaching practice, and a deeper understanding of anatomy and philosophy than a 200-hour course alone. You graduate with a 500-hour certificate from DivinePath, an RYS 500 school, and can register with Yoga Alliance as an RYT 500 after the required teaching hours.

Rishikesh makes sense for this training because the environment supports it. You're living in a place where yoga is part of daily life, not something squeezed between a nine-to-five. The Ganges is right there. Temples and ashrams are walking distance. That context matters when you're spending eight weeks studying philosophy and meditation alongside asana.

Who Should Consider This Programme

Complete beginners who want to go all the way through the 500-hour course in one trip. It sounds ambitious, and it is, but I've had students with zero teaching experience complete this programme and go on to open their own studios. The 200-hour foundation month gives you enough grounding before the advanced work begins.

Teachers who already hold a 200-hour certificate and want the advanced month can book the 300-hour course on its own. It is 28 days (26 nights): shared cottage $1,250, private cottage $1,350. Check-in is the 1st, classes run the 2nd to the 27th, and check-out is the 28th.

Teachers who've been teaching on a 200-hour certificate for years and want the 500-hour credential. A longer training opens doors — some studios and retreat centres ask for more than a 200-hour certificate, and workshops and festivals often do too.

Who Shouldn't Apply

If you're unsure whether you even want to teach, a 500 hour ytt in Rishikesh is probably too much commitment. Start with our 100-hour programme instead — it's 12 days, costs $800, and gives you a real feel for teacher training without the full eight-week investment.

If you can't commit to the dietary and conduct rules (vegetarian meals only, no alcohol, no tobacco, no drugs on campus), this isn't the right fit. These aren't arbitrary restrictions — they're part of the training environment, and I take them seriously.

The daily schedule stays consistent across the full eight weeks, though the content gets more advanced from week five onward. A standard training day looks like this:

Sundays are rest days. On Saturdays, we do excursions — the Kunjapuri Temple sunrise trek is a favourite, and we also visit Vashishth Cave, local waterfalls, and attend the Ganga Aarti at Triveni Ghat on Tuesday evenings.

It's a full schedule. You won't have a lot of free time during the week, especially in month two when the workload picks up. I tell students to treat this like a full-time job — because it is.

Three senior teachers run the programme. All three hold E-RYT 500 credentials and have been with us since we started.

Yogi Rajesh Ji — Asana and Sequencing

Rajesh Ji has been teaching here since 2011. He leads the Hatha and alignment sessions and runs the advanced sequencing workshops in month two. He's precise and methodical — the kind of teacher who'll notice your shoulder is rotated two degrees out of alignment before you feel it yourself. Students either love that level of detail or find it intense. Most end up appreciating it once they start teaching their own classes.

Yogi Naveen Ji — Anatomy and Adjustments

Naveen Ji holds a Master's in Yoga Science and has also been with us since 2011. He teaches anatomy, biomechanics, and the hands-on adjustment clinics. His approach is practical — he uses skeleton models and live demonstrations rather than PowerPoint slides. He's particularly good at explaining why a pose feels different in different bodies, which is something most anatomy courses skip entirely.

Jagjeet Singh Ji — Philosophy and Meditation

Jaggi, as most students call him, teaches the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, and all meditation and pranayama sessions. He grew up in a family of practitioners and brings a lived understanding of the texts that you don't get from someone who learned philosophy in a university. His chanting sessions are optional but worth attending — several graduates have told me those were their most memorable part of the training.

Three sattvic vegetarian meals a day, served in the Tapovan dining hall. Breakfast is usually fruit, porridge, toast, and chai. Lunch and dinner are Indian vegetarian — dal, rice, sabzi, chapati, salad. The food is simple and nourishing. If you have specific dietary needs (gluten-free, vegan), let us know before arrival and the kitchen team will accommodate where possible.

This film is a graduate of the 200-hour course, which is the first month of this 500-hour stay. She talks about the Tapovan campus and the daily timetable. It is one student's view, not a promise about every batch.

This is the question I get asked most. Here's a straightforward comparison:

The 200-hour course is sold on its own: $950 shared or $1,300 private. Indian residents pay Rs 40,000 shared or Rs 50,000 private. Check-in is the 1st and check-out is the 25th.

The 300-hour course is also sold on its own: $1,250 for a shared cottage or $1,350 for a private cottage. Indian residents pay Rs 50,000 shared or Rs 60,000 private. Check-in is the 1st, classes run the 2nd to the 27th, and check-out is the 28th. This 500-hour stay is $2,250 shared or $2,650 private for 53 days, which is $1,300 more than the 200-hour shared fee. For how other Rishikesh schools sit at 100, 300, and 500 hours, read best yoga teacher training in Rishikesh.

By Air

Dehradun's Jolly Grant Airport (DED) is the closest airport, about 20 kilometres from our campus. There are daily flights from Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. From the airport, a taxi to Tapovan takes about 45 minutes and costs roughly 600–800 INR. We can arrange a pickup if you let us know your flight details.

By Train

Haridwar Junction (HW) is 25 kilometres from Rishikesh. It connects to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and most major cities. From Haridwar, a shared auto or taxi to Tapovan takes about 40 minutes.

Airports, trains, the bus, and school pickup are on the How to Reach Rishikesh page.

Visa

Most nationalities can apply for an Indian e-Visa online. The 30-day e-Tourist visa is usually sufficient for the 200-hour programme, but for the full 53-day 500-hour programme, you'll want to apply for a 90-day e-Visa or a standard tourist visa through the Indian embassy in your country. Apply at least 4–6 weeks before your travel date.

I don't want to sugarcoat this part. Eight weeks is a long time, and the training is demanding. Here's what we require:

Full attendance at all scheduled sessions — asana, pranayama, meditation, lectures, and practicums. If you miss classes without a medical reason, it affects your ability to graduate.

The campus is vegetarian. No meat, fish, or eggs in the dining hall or your room. No alcohol, tobacco, or drugs. These rules apply for the entire 53 days.

Fasting days are fine, but you need to notify the kitchen manager so food isn't wasted.

Friends and family can't stay in student accommodation. It's a training environment, not a resort.

If you break the conduct rules, we reserve the right to dismiss you without a refund. I've only had to do this once in all the years we've been running, and I'd rather not do it again.

DivinePath's 500 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh starts on the 1st of every month. Shared rooms are $2,250, private rooms are $2,650 — everything included for 53 days. A 25% deposit holds your spot.

We've trained over 400 graduates from 45+ countries since we started. Groups are small — 10 to 15 students — and the same three teachers work with you from day one to day fifty-three. If you're ready for eight weeks of serious training at our Tapovan campus, fill out the enquiry form or reach out on WhatsApp at +91 8868043473.