From palm books to printed ones, pundits to professors – it has been a long march of 100 years for the state government-run Ayurveda College and Hospital in Mysore.
After completing 100 years of service, the college is celebrating its centenary year. The college and hospital building located facing the erstwhile royal thoroughfare, the Sayaji Rao Road, is a landmark in the heart of the city today, one among the many heritage structures.
The college produces around 250 graduates and 40 post-graduates every year, while the hospital provides the traditional treatment for various types of ailments.
The royal visionaries of Mysore made a significant contribution in placing Mysore among the most advanced and well-equipped cities in the country. One of those visionary projects was the establishment of this institution in 1908 by the then ruler, Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV.
The college made its appearance in a small way as a part of the Maharaja’s Sanskrit College, another historic institution in Mysore, which has done yeoman service in teaching ancient subjects of Sanskrit, like the Vedas.
Since then, the 175-bed ayurveda hospital and the college has been serving the trusted in the traditional treatment and the poor, who cannot afford the high-cost allopathy treatment, besides producing a large number of Ayurveda practitioners and teachers.
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Some of the ancient methods of treatment are still in vogue here, one such being the leach-treatment for blood clots. A similar treatment prevails in the traditional Chinese system. Though popular there, it has received less publicity and patronage here.
The 14 departments of the institution provide this and other types of treatments in the hospital. It also has a garden with a large number of medicinal plants, including the rare ones.
To mark its centenary the institution is adding additional infrastructure facilities – a Rs 2.18 crore post-graduate centre and a women’s hostel – funds coming from the Centre and the state governments. A Rs 11 crore 100-bed panchakarma hospital is also planned, according to Reception Committee chairman G T Deve Gowda.