New Delhi, December 5 (IANS). The friendship between India and Russia is very old. Along with respecting each other’s culture, both the countries take interest in every field. When it comes to Ayurveda, the friendly nation is not behind in this either. Indian Ayurveda, including Bhringraj, Triphala and other medicines, has made a special place in Russia.
Ayurveda is a centuries-old system of India. This is the world’s oldest medical system based on the balance of Vata-Pitta-Kapha, Panchakarma, chemical therapy and daily routine. Ayurveda is also recognized by the World Health Organization. Ayurveda has become an integral part of the national health system in India parallel to modern medicine. The influence of Ayurveda is increasing rapidly in Russia also.
There has been a long standing partnership between Russia and India, which has stood the test of time. In this context, the centuries-old Indian medical system Ayurveda is getting official recognition and popularity in Russia since 1989. This journey began when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents, occurred. Soviet doctors then turned to Ayurveda to treat children and patients affected by radiation.
Detailed information about the increasing popularity of Ayurveda in Russia is available on the official website of America’s research-based National Library of Medicine Science.
The first Ayurvedic center was opened in Minsk, Belarus in 1989 with the support of the Government of India. Indian doctors, together with Russian doctors, successfully worked on the symptoms of radiation sickness like headache, insomnia, joint pain, weak immunity etc. Subsequently, Ayurvedic treatment conducted on 85 Chernobyl victims in Moscow between 1996-98 provided complete or partial relief to most of the patients and significant improvement in their immunity.
In 1990, the Soviet Ministry of Health created a separate department to include Ayurveda in the Russian health system and started the first training course in Moscow, in which more than 250 doctors were trained in Ayurveda. In 1991 the Russian Traditional Medicine Association was established.
From 1996 to 2005, Indian experts like Dr. Naushad Ali, Dr. Mohammad Ali and Dr. Unnikrishnan treated more than 15 hundred patients at the famous Ayurveda Center in Moscow. The ‘Vashya Ayurveda’ project started in 2003 and the Ayurveda Russia-India Consortium formed in 2005 gave it further momentum. Today, the Institute of Oriental Medicine of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia houses the Department of Ayurveda. Indian professors train a large number of Russian doctors every year.
Indian medicines like Chyawanprash, Triphala Guggulu, Brahmi Rasayan, Medohar Guggulu, Mahamanjishthadi, Bhringraj and dozens of oils like Amla, Ashwagandha, Bala, Mahanarayan are available in the Russian market. Not only this, there are more than 1 thousand spa centers in the country, more than half of which provide pure Ayurvedic services like Panchakarma, Abhyangam, herbal steam bath.
Children, old and young people of Russia are taking help of Ayurveda for relief from physical and mental problems.
–IANS
MT/AS