India is unusual in having several complete medical systems in continuous practice, all formally recognised by the state. The Ministry of Ayush, created in 2014, regulates six: Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy.
The oldest and largest, with roots in the Atharvaveda and its classical statement in the Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Ashtanga Hridayam. Sushruta's surgical descriptions — including cataract couching and reconstructive nose surgery — are remarkable, and the Indian rhinoplasty technique reached Europe in the eighteenth century and influenced modern plastic surgery.
Covered in full on the Ayurveda page.
The Tamil system, attributed to the eighteen Siddhars, of whom Agastya is the most celebrated. It shares much with Ayurveda — the three humours appear as vatham, pittham and kabam — but is distinguished by its extensive use of minerals and metals in prepared form, and by its close relationship with alchemy and yoga. It remains strongest in Tamil Nadu.
Unani-Tibb is the Greco-Arabic tradition: Hippocratic and Galenic humoral medicine, developed by Persian and Arab physicians and brought to India with the Delhi Sultanate. It works with four humours — blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile — and a concept of individual temperament, mizaj. Its great modernising figure in India was Hakim Ajmal Khan in the early twentieth century. It is taught at degree level and practised widely, particularly in Hyderabad, Lucknow and Delhi.
Tibetan medicine, based on the Gyud Zhi or Four Tantras, combining Indian Buddhist, Chinese and indigenous Tibetan elements. It uses three humours, detailed pulse and urine examination, and compound herbal-mineral formulas. It is practised in Ladakh, Himachal, Sikkim and Arunachal, and was formally recognised by India in 2010.
Grouped together under Ayush. Naturopathy in India draws on both the indigenous nature-cure tradition and the European hydropathy movement, and was championed by Mahatma Gandhi, who ran a nature cure clinic at Uruli Kanchan and wrote a small book on the subject. Its principles — that the body heals itself given rest, clean food, water, air and sunlight — are the ones this site is organised around.
Included here because India recognises it and it is enormously popular, with more registered homoeopaths than any other country.
I will be straightforward. Homoeopathy was founded by Samuel Hahnemann in the 1790s on two principles: that like cures like, and that dilution increases potency. Its remedies are typically diluted past the point where any molecule of the original substance remains. Systematic reviews, including a major Australian government review in 2015, have consistently concluded that homoeopathy performs no better than placebo for any condition.
Many people report feeling better after seeing a homoeopath, and I do not doubt them — a long unhurried consultation has real value. But the remedy itself is not doing the work, and homoeopathy should never be used in place of treatment for a serious illness.
This site is a personal account and a record of traditional practice, shared for information. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a treatment for any disease. I am not a doctor.
If you are unwell — and especially if you have a serious illness such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease — please stay under the care of a qualified physician. Nothing here should replace or delay that care.