 Gradually other ashrams came up and soon it became a popular destination for yoga and meditation practitioners and seekers of Vedantic knowledge.The town became a Nagar Panchayat on 30 November 1949 and elevated to Municipal Council in 2015.Over the years other ashrams have come up in the area — Gita Bhawan, Parmarth Niketan of Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Vanprastha Ashram — all on the opposite bank of the Ganges.