Ayur-veda literally means, Science of Life. It is a 'wholistic medicine system' that some say dates back to 5000 years. In the larger context of vedic studies, Ayurveda is treated as Upa-veda (sub Veda) of Rigveda and Anthar-veda (internal part) of Atharvana veda.

There is a lot of material on this science on the net. From a practical point of view, Ayurveda is currently perceived by the masses as a supplemental system to allopathy for post-care recuperation and for body-mind rejuvenation.

Only a small percentage of people in the world trust in Ayurveda to get treatment for common and serious diseases and ailments. The main reason is that though the system has been around forever, there isn't much scientific research data regarding the soundness of the theory and the efficacy of the treatment and the medicines. Part of the reason why such data doesn't exist is due to the nature of the system itself that considers every individual as unique and hence 1) the cases do not lend themselves to statistical aggregation and analysis and 2) the modern medical system's practice of "Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled" study of medicine efficacy is not applicable to to Ayurveda because it believes each patient reacts to the same medicine differently.

But many doctors trained in both modern medicine and Ayurveda have taken upon themselves to find ways to create research data that satisfies the requirements of institutions, control bodies (like the FDA) and practitioners related to modern medical system. The government of India has created a department and knowledge base called AYUSH to digitize and document all the available knowledge in the field of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Sidda and Homeopathy. Hopefully, such efforts will help integrate both modern and ancient medical systems resulting in more preventive care and wholistic treatment.

What we have done so far:

We were fortunate to discover a very competent and passionate Ayurveda teacher in Berkeley a few years back. Having decided to become students whenever we discover good teachers (regardless of the subject), we promptly signed up and learnt basic Ayurveda from Ven. Losang Jinpa (formerly Michael Kreuzer) for a year. In the last three years, we have implemented some practices from Ayurveda in our lifestyle and helped some of our interested family, friends (and some unsuspecting victims :) to pick up some practices and recipes.

What we intend to do:

We'd like to deepen our practice of an Ayurvedic lifestyle with proper daily routines and nutrition. As luck would have it, Coimbatore happens to be the headquarters of Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (AVP), a highly reputed 65 year old organization in the practice of Ayurveda along with growing and manufacturing of Ayurvedic herbs. We intend to collaborate with AVP and work with the people in our village in Ayurvedic education and practice for prevention and cure of various ailments and more importantly for the active promotion of good health. We also intend to grow many herbs and possibly help create a few small businesses run by the villagers in the manufacturing, packaging and marketing of Ayurvedic herbs for local consumption. In a village where modern healthcare is minimal a system like Ayurveda that focuses on lifestyle is invaluable.

In fact, basic knowledge and practice related to health was once part of most households. Since the 1750s, indigenous knowledge and practices were systemically destroyed by the colonial powers as evident from the British history archives, researched and reported by people like Dharampal. Now, a revival of sorts seems to be happening by many enthusiasts of ancient Indian knowledge (like AYUSH). We are excited by this momentum and hope to take part in it to whatever extent we can.

We welcome your participation in any manner.