Hospitals

AH & RC Kottakkal

Established in 1954, this Hospital complex is, perhaps, the first of its kind where all the classical Panchakarma and Kerala special therapies were made available to patients in an organised manner under the umbrella of a modern Hospital facility.

AH & RC Kochi

The Ayurvedic Hospital started at Kottakkal in 1954 steadily grew in its capacity to accommodate patients and in the amenities provided to patients and bystanders. And yet, when it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005, it had already become clear to the Management that the Hospital accommodation is so heavily booked that the suffering patients are made to wait long periods of time before an accommodation became available.

AH & RC Delhi

In order to fulfil the longstanding demand of patients from the Northern parts of India and abroad this 49-bed full-fledged hospital was started in Delhi in the year 2000. The diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, as well as the authentic medicaments used, are exactly the same as being employed at the Ayurvedic Hospital at Kottakkal.

The conceptual and operational framework of Ayurveda is wide enough to include all that is essential to make a man healthy and happy. It includes the study of right conduct (dharma), which is necessary for the healthy growth of society in which the man lives. Further it deals with the philosophical aspect of life, the knowledge of which contributes greatly to the comfort and happiness of all human beings. Ayurveda philosophically understands the limitation of human efforts. Still it talks about the means of prolonging life and the methods of invigorating it.

The objectives of Ayurveda are mainly two, the first being the maintenance of positive health, and the other treatment of diseases. These clearly defined objectives are achieved through logically developed means in a classical way. On the basis of objectives defined, the sum and substance of Ayurveda can be classified into two parts -

• Healthy man’s regimen - the science of positive health (svasthavrittam)
• Patient’s regimen (aturavrittam).

Ayurveda In Kerala

The ideal geographic location of Kerala and its salubrious climate has made external purification and rejuvenation therapies most effective for treatment of many psychosomatic disorders

The high humidity in Kerala helps to open up the body pores and the medicinal oils used in massaging get easily absorbed into the body there by increasing the effectiveness of the treatment

Sirodhara, Pizhichil, Navarakizhi, Thalapothichil, Pachakizhi and Podikizhi are some of the Kerala special ayurvedic procedures

The fundamentals of Ayurveda being practised and taught in Kerala are not different from those of the rest of the country, in their essence and philosophy. But in the present days, there indeed is a notable difference in certain aspects of Kerala tradition of Ayurveda. This difference pertains to the importance given to Vagbhata's Ashtangahridayam in preference to other classical texts by Kerala traditional physicians, the uninterrupted history of practising the classical panchakarma therapies in all their authentic fidelity, the innovative development of the reputed Kerala preparatory therapies and finally the wide variety of exclusive herbal based formulations overshadowing the use of metal and mineral based drugs.

History of Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a monumental contribution of India to the world. As the name implies, Ayurveda (ayuh: life, veda: knowledge) is an organized body of knowledge of healthy living. Systematized knowledge is science, and it is an expression of human creativity. Since creativity has diverse expressions science is a multifaceted enterprise, which refers to different ways of knowing. So the term science need not be confined to the sense of the term used in modern western culture, where it is an institutionalized practice conditioned by a set of conventional rules.

This realization about the vast conceptual framework of science is mandatory for the appraisal of Ayurveda, which represents a well-codified human care system and speaks of the art and science of health and healing.

From where and when the stream of Ayurveda started flowing still remains unanswered. However, it has an uninterrupted history of more than 3000 years. The historians and scholars have their own arguments and reasons in fixing up different time frames. Anyway, one thing can be said for certain that there is no civilization in the world, which has not developed some system of medicine or the other. It was the periodic systematization of such medical knowledge and practice, which led to the development of medical science. The same is the story of Ayurveda with its own variations.

It could be seen that Ayurveda is rooted in the knowledge revealed by ancient seers whose insights and visions are compiled in the vedas. Vedas are the earliest forms of documented knowledge. The six systems of Indian philosophy - nyaya, vaiseshika, sankhya, yoga, mimamsa and vendanta acknowledged the authority of vedas. Of the four vedas, Atharvaveda contain more intimate reference to medical knowledge and practice. Ayurveda is therefore considered as an auxiliary limb (upaveda) of Atharvaveda. Similarly, the influence of classical Indian Philosophies, especially of sankhya and vaiseshika is apparent in ayurvedic literature. These philosophical moorings make Ayurveda more than a medical manual though it is radically health oriented.