Kolkata: The “Bengali Ayurveda Archive” a unique historical exhibition has emerged as the prime attraction at this year’s East Burdwan AYUSH Mela, organised by the State Health Department to promote AYUSH systems of medicine and raise public awareness across the state.
The primary objective of the exhibition was to present the historical importance of Bengal’s Ayurvedic tradition to the general public. The AYUSH Mela is being held at Bhratri Sangha Playground, Jotram in East Burdwan. The Mela concluded on Wednesday.
Alongside free medical consultations for the public, distribution of medicinal plants, and health awareness programmes, the three-day mela brought together centuries-old artifacts.
Among the most notable exhibits were rare photographs from 1924 showing Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and poet Kazi Nazrul Islam attending programmes at the Bishuddha Ayurveda Institution in Dhaka. Also on display are important historical documents, including letters written by the then-Governor of West Bengal, Padmaja Naidu, concerning the Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda School and Ayurveda Hospital, as well as an official government letter signed by former Chief Minister Prafulla Chandra Sen in 1964 regarding the takeover of an Ayurvedic college.
The exhibition presents a comprehensive account of the lives, dedication, and contributions of renowned Ayurvedic physicians of undivided Bengal—long regarded as a sacred land of Ayurveda.
Special emphasis has been placed on rare documents and historical records related to pioneers who laid the foundation of the present government Ayurvedic colleges in West Bengal. The archive further features a valuable collection of century old Ayurvedic health journals and rare signed agreements documenting the transfer of Ayurvedic schools and hospitals to the Government of West Bengal.
The exhibition holds special significance for manuscript and textual research in Ayurveda. Rare works on display include Jalpaka Kalpataru, a commentary on the Charaka Samhita by Murshidabad-based physician Gangadhar Kabiraj, along with contributions by Shibkali Bhattacharya, Gangaprasad Sen of Kumartuli, Birjacharan Gupta, the royal physician of the Cooch Behar palace, and Rajvaidya Prabhakar Chattopadhyay.
Also exhibited are the original architectural plans of the Ayurvedic college founded by Shyamadas Bachaspati of Chupi village in Bardhaman district currently the state’s only postgraduate Ayurvedic institution as well as a handwritten letter by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose outlining plans for the college’s establishment.