Invoking ‘Hindu’ Ayurveda: Communalisation of the late colonial Ayurvedic discourse

Abstract

The late nineteenth and early twentieth century in India witnessed a tremendous growth of vernacular Ayurvedic tracts, journals, pamphlets and public polemics. Incidentally, the consequent Ayurvedic discourse was not merely about the medical aspects of the Ayurvedic healing system. Rather, a careful reading of these published materials on Ayurveda throws immense light on the ongoing debates about sociocultural and religious processes. Interestingly, the social culture manifested by the early twentieth century Ayurvedic discourse was highly communalist, casteist, and gender-and class-biased in its content. In this regard, the present article explores how, in the era of communal polarisation, healing systems acquired religious identities. For example, from the 1920s onwards the cause of Ayurveda was promulgated by many vaids (Ayurvedic practitioners) and publicists by linking it with the broader agenda of ‘Hindu’ revivalism and the consolidation of a ‘Hindu’ religious, cultural and national identity. That is why issues like ‘Hindi prachar’, ‘cow protection’ and the cause of ‘Hindu education’ often formed the subject of vaid campaigns throughout North India. Related to this was the demonisation of ‘Muslim rule’ in India from the apparent perspective of health in the Ayurvedic discourse of the time. Simultaneously, this article argues that this communalisation of the Ayurvedic discourse, besides creating external religious boundaries, also unleashed hegemonic upper-caste and -class ideas that served to homogenise the community internally as well.

Festivals of Ayurveda: Scope and challenges

“…Celebration of Dhanvantari Jayanti during the late 19 th century provided a collective consciousness and identity among the physicians and gave their profession a “sacred” aura. [ 53 ] Apart from having symbolic value, festivals and other recurring events are often viewed as tourist attractions. Festivals act as vehicles for the mobilization and cementation of local and global communities; strategies for building national and transnational communities and as spatiotemporal events that inspire and determine meaning in people’s lives.…”

Cow products: boon to human health and food security

“…Cow products are well known for their traditional practices of medicine since time immemorial. These products have received extensive importance in Ayurveda, while slighter attention has been given to Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine (Wang and Carey 2014 ; Rai 2019 ). Ayurvedic classics such as Charak Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Bhaisajya Ratnavali, and Arya-Bhishak described different properties of cow products and therapeutic potentials.…”