What do you do when you find that Western allopathic medicine fails to restore you to permanent good health? Try India's holistic healing system – Ayurveda, the science of life. Taken from the Sanskrit words for life and science respectively, this ancient healing system defines health as the harmony of the body, mind and soul.

There is no other place to experience Ayurveda than at one of its pioneering institutions: the Arya Vaidya Sala at Kottakal, Kerala. This Ayurvedic hospital was established over a hundred years ago by physician P S Varier, who pioneered the production of Ayurvedic medicine and treating patients. His work ensured that Ayurveda is alive today, after a period where the British tried to stamp it out during colonial rule.
Before I left home, I was asked to complete a detailed online health questionnaire including descriptions of the weather conditions of your place of residence. I was suffering from chronic debilitating headaches and allopathic medicine could only provide me with strong painkillers and no long term solution. Email communication secured a date for my stay and outlined a course of treatment. A minimum of fourteen days is required; however it’s best to stay for a month.

Whatever you decide, book well ahead; people from all over the world come to Kottakkal. During my month long stay, I met folk from across South Asia, North America, Africa, South America, Europe and the Middle East; some had waited nine months to get a place. They all come because Western medicine has failed them. The hospital does not advertise, everyone hears of it by word of mouth. Some make the journey by plane to Cochin, or train to Tirur station, and then complete the final section of the journey by car or taxi. Others drive all the way from various parts of India.

On arrival, I checked in to my treatment block, one of four that house a total of 150 accommodation units. All rooms are simply furnished and have direct-dial telephones.

Double rooms are more spacious and you can have a friend or relative to stay. Each room also has a cooking area, though you would have to hire a stove and bring cooking utensils. The more expensive rooms are air-conditioned. Although this might be attractive in the heat of summer, air-conditioning is not conducive for Ayurveda and isn’t recommended. If you’re wondering why they have air-conditioned rooms anyway, it is to appease patients from the US and Middle East who demand them.
Having settled in, I had a physician check me over and put me on a treatment plan together which started the following day. This usually includes massage and a host of herbal remedies to take at specific times during the day.

My treatment started at 6am daily with a spoonful of bitter medicine. At 730am, two smiling women in pale blue sarees took me to the massage room. Wearing a langoti (thong), I lay on a specially designed bed and was given a deep-tissue massage by four women, while two others gave me dhara.

Dhara is an Ayurvedic treatment that involves a clay pot hanging about 8 inches above your head. A hole in the pot has a string hanging through it. A masseur pours oil or milk into this pot, gently moving it from side to side while the medicated coconut oil or cold milk infused with herbs flows onto your third eye and over your forehead. Another massages it into your head. All the while your body experiences a hot-oil deep-tissue massage. The experience is intoxicating. After an hour, I was taken back to my room where two women covered me in a moong dhal paste and washed me like a baby. After that, I had just about enough energy to crawl 10 feet to my bed and collapse into a deep slumber.
utside my window the monsoon rain drenched the sea of palm trees. While the season is good for massages, it also happens to be a time for bugs. The mosquito nets don’t keep them all at bay, and there were times when I found it more than tiresome to have to fend off unwanted creatures continually. I finally understood the advantage of the air-conditioned rooms - no bugs!

Lunch is served on the canteen on the ground floor. The food – all vegetarian – is welcome but the variety is not great and the quality disappointing. Some people hire a cook and bring their stoves and cooking utensils. I met a lady from Chennai who had brought two vanloads of stuff with her, including all her pots and pans. If you don’t feel like doing the cooking yourself, you can hire a cook. You would need to arrange this yourself; it’s not something the hospital can provide.
After lunch, more rest is recommended. The library onsite has a strange collection of dusty books in languages that include English, French, German, Hindi, Malayalam