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Madhu Gurung

India, once known the world over as a cultural, spiritual and heritage tourism centre, is now increasingly popular as a health destination.

Cornelia Ullrich, 46, has flown all the way from Germany to India for her `Ayurveda holiday'. She spent 14 days `de-stressing' at Angsana, an ayurvedic centre in Bangalore, soaking in the "utterly relaxing" oil massage, eating vegetarian meals, drinking herbal concoctions and listening to soothing Carnatic music. Ullrich, who heard of the place from a fellow sculptor, says she "feels reborn".

India, once known the world over as a cultural, spiritual and heritage tourism centre, is now becoming increasingly popular as a health destination. "Travel is no longer what it used to be. Now, the world over, there is a shift to vegetarianism, alternative healing, yoga and healthy living. So we market India as a health destination," says Radhika Ray, merchandising and product development manager at SITA World Travels. Besides its cultural package, SITA also offers a special Ayurveda package, which is immensely popular.

An editorial published in 1998 in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) was the first to note the increasing popularity of alternative medicine. It reported a 47 per cent increase in US-based patients turning to alternate health practitioners. JAMA attributed this growing shift to grave public concern about escalating costs of conventional medicine and the adverse effects of allopathic medicine. The journal goes on to say that an increase in the incidence of chronic diseases has caused people to look for better quality of life. The new mantra is a lifestyle change based on a holistic approach to life.

Travel and tourism gurus in India were quick to capitalise on these global trends. As it is, tourism has never been this good in a decade and a half. Global recession is on the wane and India's economy is growing at impressive rates. The benefits of doing business with and in India have resulted in thousands of jobs moving to Indian shores from the West. This brings in transit business travellers who visit India on business meetings and holidays. In 2002, 2.2 million foreigners visited India, and the Ministry of Tourism says that the figure for the year 2003 is up by 20 per cent.

Kerala, has marketed itself remarkably well as `God's Own Country' and the land of ayurvedic massages and treatment. The Kerala government had an outlay of about Rs 742 million for the financial year 2003-04. This investment makes available cheap, long-term funds to help finance the tourism infrastructure. Kerala is today a popular destination in India for foreign tourists. To cater to this growing demand, a number of upmarket spas and health centres offering ayurvedic treatment have cropped up all over the country.

Ananda, one such centre, close to Rishikesh, was judged first runner-up in 2003 for the Best Overseas Lifestyle Destination Spa by the Conde Nast Traveller. The spa's philosophy of `holistic wellness' comes at a price. A 30-minute consultation — which includes determination of the individual body constitution and prescription of guidelines for a daily routine, activities and diet plan — costs about Rs 750. This can go up to Rs 4,500 for pizhichil, a highly sought-after ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy, which is essentially a 14-day oil massage course that helps build immunity. It is prescribed as a remedy for blood pressure, rheumatic diseases and sexual weakness, and claims to help arrest ageing.

Says, Dr M.V. Vasudevan, who runs Arya Vaidyasala Kottakkal in Delhi, "When I was in college, there were just three Ayurveda colleges; now there are seven in Kerala alone. Every year, nearly 300 people become Ayurveda practitioners."

Although this science is practised all over the country, the Kerala School appears to dominate the scene. Dr V. R. Verma of the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy in Delhi says, "Ayurvedic curative therapies originated in Kerala and there are doctors still carrying on the old traditions."

Adds Dr Vasudevan, "Most of our patients come to us after trying allopathy. A large number seek treatment for arthritis, neurological disorders, allergic complaints and total body rejuvenation. Many degenerative diseases, psychosomatic disorders and stress-related problems find few answers in allopathy, but Ayurveda offers solutions. People from foreign embassies, like France, Germany and Romania, have been coming to us for treatment. Earlier, we had only two centres, in Kerala and Delhi; now we have several branches in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Coimbatore.

After fighting a losing battle with chronic arthritis, retired botanist Maya Anderson, 71, journeyed from the US to Sittilanchery, a small village near Palghat. She booked in at the Narayana Ayurveda Chikitsalaya to undergo a 16-day treatment for painful swollen knees. "I was a near cripple. Some days, I was completely bed-ridden and would lose all hopes of ever leading a normal life," she says. At the Chikitsalaya, Maya was given herbal oil massages coupled with complete rest and a boiled, minimal salt diet. She also drank kashayam, a herbal concoction , and took guggulu tablets. Maya's doctors have told her to repeat the treatment for the next three years for complete cure. "I now have my life back. I can understand, care for and manage my condition. That is the key," she says.

The flipside, says Verma, is that "most centres do not offer authentic treatment. Most tourists go back from India thinking that a massage with herbal oil is ayurvedic treatment. The fact is that the massage is just a small part of it. An equally important component of the treatment is the diet and lifestyle of the patient and the herbal supplements prescribed. This can be provided only by a trained Ayurvedic physician, and such commercialisation and exploitation only harms our traditional science."

Women's Feature Service

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