Arya Vaidya Sala ("Holy Medical Campus"), popularly known as Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, is a healthcare centre located in

Kottakkal Kottakkal (literally-''Land of the Fort'') is a major municipality, municipal town in Malappuram district in Kerala, having 32 Ward (country subdivision), wards. It is one of the four municipalities in Tirur Taluk, besides Tirur, Valanchery, and ...

, in the Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, providing services under the Indian traditional medicine system of

Ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

History

Vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier, a scholar in whose honour the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

have issued a postage stamp, founded Arya Vaidya Sala in 1902, at

, a small town in

Malappuram district Malappuram (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . The most populous district of Kerala, Malappuram is home to around 13% of the tot ...

, in the Indian state of

. It began as a small clinic for outpatient treatment and sale of ayurvedic medicines. Fifteen years later, Warrier established the ''Arya Vaidya Patasala'' (School of Ayurvedic Medicine; more literally "holy medical school"), in the town of

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

teaching under the

Gurukula A () is a traditional system of religious education in India with ('students' or 'disciples') living near or with the guru in the same house for a period of time where they learn and get educated by their guruji. Etymology The word is a com ...

method. The school was shifted later to Kottakkal and has transformed itself into a Medical College, ''Vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier Ayurveda College'', affiliated to the Kerala University of Health Science. Since 1944, when Warrier died, the clinic has been managed by the, ''Kottakkal Charitable Trust'' as per the provisions of his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

. Warrier was conferred the title of ''Vaidyaratnam'' (jewel among physicians) by the Government of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

in 1933. After the death of P. S. Warrier, his nephew, P. Madhava Warrier (P. M. Warrier) took over the position as the Chief Physician and became the first Managing Trustee of the charitable trust in 1944. He is reported to have modernized the institution and initiated many efforts for the growth of the institution. Madhava Warrier died in an air crash in 1953 and the next head of the institution was his youngest brother, P. K. Warrier, a physician and the winner of the civilian award,

Padmabhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January ...

, who was the Managing Trustee and the Chief Physician. After the death of P K Warrier, P Madavankutty Warrier took over the position as the Managing Trustee of the institution.

Profile

The Arya Vaidya Sala (AVS) group of institutions has its headquarters in

, located 16 kilometers from

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a municipality and town in Kerala and the headquarters of the Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Kerala, 4th largest urban agglomeration in Kerala and ...

and 48 kilometers from

. Two of the hospitals run by the group are based at Kottakkal. The group consists of five hospitals of which one is a charitable centre, 15 branches, a research centre, two medicine factories, a Marketing Division overseeing over 1500 retail outlets, and four herbal gardens. The group is reported to be treating over 800,000 patients, through consultation and in patient services. Arya Vaidya Sala provides readymade ayurvedic medicines and dispensing ayurvedic medicines in the form of pills.

Hospitals

AVS group manages five hospitals with inpatient facilities with a total capacity of over 400 beds, three under the brand name of ''Ayurvedic Hospital and Research Centre'' (AH&RC) one under the name, ''Charitable Hospital'' and the fifth - a new Ayurvedic hospital at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. ''AH&RC Kottakkal'', the flagship hospital, is based in Kottakkal, and has a capacity of 300 beds. Established in 1954, the hospital provides traditional Kerala preparatory therapies along with classical

panchakarma Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

treatment. It is known to be a referral hospital and the patient profile is multiethnic. ''AH&RC Delhi'' is located at Karkardooma in East Delhi and is a 49 bedded facility. ''AH&RC Kochi'' is situated in Thrikkakkara while the ''Ayurvedic Hospital Baddi'' is situated at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, www.aryavaidyasalabaddi.com. The Charitable Hospital, based in Kottakkal, was started in 1924 and offers free consultation and treatment to the financially compromised. The hospital, which has a capacity of 140 beds, is composed of

Panchakarma Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

, Poison treatment and clinical research wards, a surgical unit and a maternity home. The hospital claims that the free treatment provided by the hospital amounts to 900,000 annually. The unit is managed by the Ethical and the Research committees of Arya Vaidya Sala.

Centre for Medicinal Plants Research

Arya Vaidya Sala opened its research centre, ''Centre for Medicinal Plants Research'' (CMPR) in 2003, with financial assistance from

Sir Dorabji Tata Trust The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust was established by Sir Dorab Tata (fondly called ''Sir Dorabji''), the elder son of Tata Group founder Jamsetji Tata. Founded in 1932, it is one of the oldest non-sectarian philanthropic organisations in India. Hist ...

. The centre is involved in the research on medicinal plants based on

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

, tissue culture, genetic resources, phytochemistry,

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and extension activities and is equipped with a

phytochemistry Phytochemistry is the study of phytochemicals, which are chemicals derived from plants. Phytochemists strive to describe the structures of the large number of secondary metabolites found in plants, the functions of these compounds in human and ...

laboratory and a

tissue culture Tissue culture is the growth of tissue (biology), tissues or cell (biology), cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-s ...

laboratory. The administration is handled from an administrative office block. The centre is located in Kottakkal and has ongoing research programmes in association with the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR; IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada'') is a research and development (R&D) organisation in India to promote scientific, industrial and economic growth. Headquarter ...

(CSIR) of the

Factories

The group has manufacturing facilities at Kottakkal and

Kanjikode Kanjikode or Kanchikode is an industrial town located east of Palakkad. Kanjikode is the second largest industrial hub in Kerala after Kochi. The town is part of Pudussery (gram panchayat), Pudussery Panchayat. It is one of the growing suburbs o ...

, near

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

. They are operated under license from the Drug Controller's office and has received ''Good Practices'' certification from the

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

. The units support the medicinal requirements of the hospitals run by the group as well as the

over the counter Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid pres ...

sales at the retail outlets. The factories have in house

Quality Assessment Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

departments to oversee the manufacturing processes and are certified by the

Bureau of Indian Standards The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government ...

. The total turnover of the manufacturing units is reported to be 19 million.

Herbal gardens

Of the four herbal gardens maintained by the group, two are located at

Mannarkkad Mannarkkad, formerly known as Mannarghat, is a major municipal town in Palakkad district of the Indian state of Kerala. The Silent Valley National Park and the Attappadi Reserve Forest are located in Mannarkkad Taluk. Mannarkkad is situated 36 ...

, near Palakkad and Thrikkakkara, in

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

and together, they measure over 200 acres. AVS has two more demonstration gardens of lesser areas at Kottakkal, making the total area to 220 acres and the gardens provide 44 varieties of herbs to the AVS factories. The gardens permit research and studies to aspiring students which have precipitated several scientific papers and books. The

International Development Research Centre The International Development Research Centre (IDRC; , ''CRDI'') is a Canadian federal Crown corporation. As part of Canada's foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developi ...

(IDRC), Canada has collaborated on one of the projects, ''Medicinal Plants (India) Project''. Some of the notable works that came out of researches are: * ''Ayurvedic Drugs and Their Plant Sources'' * ''Some important medicinal plants of the Western Ghats, India: a profile'' * ''Indian Medicinal Plants: A Compendium of 500 Species, Vol. I'' * ''Indian Medicinal Plants: A Compendium of 500 Species, Vol. II'' * ''Indian Medicinal Plants: A Compendium of 500 Species, Vol. III'' * ''Indian Medicinal Plants: A Compendium of 500 Species, Vol. IV'' * ''Indian Medicinal Plants: A Compendium of 500 Species, Vol. V''

References

External links

* * * * * {{Authority control