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The first signs of Ayurvedic renaissance began to emerge at the beginning of the 20th century.
At first, there were only isolated experiments of enlightened individuals who felt a desperate need to save what was left of Ayurveda after the dark ages of India’s history. These heroic deeds were joined hand in hand with a strong wave of patriotism. In some cases they were even supported by British intellectuals of the time. A definite revival was succeeded after the gaining of independence. From then on, Ayurveda has been steadily growing in strength.
A personal experience of two of India’s top politicians with Ayurveda medicine undoubtedly played a significant role in the renaissance of Ayurveda. In 1962, the first Prime minister of the independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru was successfully treated for his chronic kidney problem which could not be treated by the allopathic medicine. Shortly afterwards his physician, a prominent Ayurvedic doctor, S. Sharma, delivered a historical speech before the Indian parliament, opening the path to the founding of the National Committee for Ayurveda Development. S. Sharma became its first chairman. At the beginning of the fifties, the then High Commissioner of India to Ceylon, V.V. Giri, who later became the vice president and later the President of India, was also helped by Ayurveda. He was treated by one of the nestors of South Indian Ayurveda, Dr. Ezhutthacchan who prescribed his patient to undergo a traditional treatment in the renowned Ayurvedic centre Arya Vaidya Sala at Kottakal in Kerala State. It was here the future president of the country was permanently relieved from his chronic joint swellings and pain.
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A personal experience of two of India’s top politicians with Ayurveda medicine undoubtedly played a significant role in the renaissance of Ayurveda. In 1962, the first Prime minister of the independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru was successfully treated for his chronic kidney problem which could not be treated by the allopathic medicine.
In the sixties, under the patronage of the Indian government, many universities were opened, where Ayurveda has been taught in three to five years programme completing with a B.A, M.A or Doctors degree. Today over 150 universities teaching Ayurveda exist in the country, half of which are state institutions.
The government also initiated the foundation of laboratories for researching traditional herbs according to modern scientific parameters. Botanical gardens and institutes have established and maintained herbariums in collaboration with the aboriginal inhabitants of the forests, whose ancestors had for thousands of years cultivated and used herbs for various healing purposes. The patron for the support and development of Ayurveda at the level of the Central Government is the Central Council of Ayurvedic and Siddha Medicine Research and also the Central Institute of Ayurvedic Research. Both institutions form part of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Around 70 institutes and centres fall under the Central Council, which conducts research in many branches of Ayurveda.
Many scientific magazines of professional standard are published in which the reader may obtain all the information in the field of Ayurveda and also find results of research done on Ayurvedic medicinal preparations.
In India there are over 6,000 approved pharmaceutical companies, around twenty of which are sponsored by the state. According to botanical research, around 7,500 types of herbs are used in traditional medicine. Most states in India have state boards for traditional medical systems, which oversee the standard of practice and in some cases education. Around 360,000 registered Ayurvedic physicians exist in the country; two thirds of them have gained qualifications at a university and the rest by informal ways by which the knowledge is traditionally passed from teacher to student.
About seventy per cent of medical needs are still covered by the usage of herbal medicine. Today, Ayurveda is one of the six official medical systems approved by state. The other systems are allopathic medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, the Unani system, Siddha medicine and Yoga therapy.
Allopathic and Ayurvedic doctors communicate among themselves and there are many cases, where Ayurvedic, allopathic and homeopathic doctors consult the state and way of treatment of their patients together. Many allopathic doctors use Ayurvedic medicaments and encourage their patients to take to diet according to the principles of Ayurveda.
Politics of the British Empire played a key role in the spreading of allopathic medicine in India. Politics has remained an important factor in medicine even today. A rather large segment of the allopathic community consists of the doctors who know nothing of Ayurveda except for its existence. They have a tendency to refuse it as unscientific or even as a priceless knot of superstition. This regrettable ignorance comes mostly from the conditioned sentiment that holding to domestic tradition means a step backwards in evolution. Similarly as in the West, pragmatic motives, as the elimination of competition, are in the game as well. Social studies in India have shown that allopathic doctors very often derive their social status more from belonging to the modern wave of advancement, than from their medical abilities. What must also be noted is that medical profession is considered one of the most prestigious on the social scale and that there is great interest in the studying of medicine. There are also groups, which would like to make Ayurveda a part of allopathic medicine.
On entering the new millennium, exceptionally favourable conditions for further development of Ayurveda have emerged:
Ayurveda has been flourishing in its purest form mainly in the South of India, where a great number of centres have grown in the past few years. Many of these are excellent and are equipped according to Western standards. South Indian centres’ work revolves around traditional Ayurvedic philosophy. By this, it is said that a person should at least once a year undergo a thorough cleansing so that the body can regenerate and rejuvenate. The centres provide a unique therapy called ‘Panchakarma’ which is a combination of purification and stimulating and rejuvenating techniques. Some centres have their own botanical gardens, laboratories and pharmacies. The South Indian state of Kerala is a well known centre of traditional Panchakarma and massage and there are more centres of Panchakarma in Kerala than in the rest of India.
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NAVARATRI
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MANALTHEERAM AYURVEDA BEACH VILLAGE
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MANALTHEERAM
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Dr. Sri Kumar
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