Panchakarna Therapy Gaining Wide Recognition

April 22, 2007

(Ayushveda.com) - Ayurveda's Panchakarma therapy is getting a sort of revival in the country, with several centers waking up to the extremely beneficial therapy yet again. Actually, Panchakarma has always existed in India since about thousands of years, but in recent times there has been something of a renaissance due to several people opting for holistic brands of medicines.

Panchakarma is considered to be the best holistic therapy which brings about a total internal purification of a person's body. Literally it means 'five actions' (Pancha = five, karma = action). The regimen of Panchakarma is quite an elaborate one, and it contains several procedures apart from the basic five actions.

The therapy begins with a Purvakarma therapy, which is a preliminary of the actual Panchakarma therapy. In this Purvakarma, there are two parts – the snehana and the svedana. In the snehana part, the person is given an oil massage with special herbal oils. This is done continuously for anywhere between three and seven days. Svedana is the induction of sweat from the body, and is always done on all the days snehana is done, immediately following it. The intentions of both the snehana and the svedana are to canalize the toxins within the gastrointestinal tract to the outer apertures of the body, from where they can be expelled.

Once the Purvakarma is accomplished, the body is ready for the actual five methods of the Panchakarma. These five methods are the vamana, virechana, basti, nasya and the raktamoksha.

Vamana is vomiting. In this step, the person is induced to vomit so that the toxins in the gastrointestinal tract are expelled by the emesis. Once this is done, virechana is employed. This is a purgation therapy which is carried out by giving some natural herbal laxatives to the person. Basti is an enema therapy in which all the toxins are finally flushed out from the digestive system. Nasya is an unconventional method in which dangerous substances from the body are eliminated through the nose. Finally, raktamoksha means bloodletting. In this therapy, small painless incisions are made on the skin and the bad blood is made to flow out.

The success of Panchakarma therapy has been immense, for this therapy is now widely accepted in the west, even in advanced countries of America and the European continent. The therapies have been the subject of wide research in these nations, and several European and American tourists make a beeline to Indian states to experience the wonders of the therapy.

Recently, south Indian states of India have been showing keen interest in the therapy. Kerala has always been using it in its numerous resorts and spas that provide Ayurvedic health; and now Karnataka has also joined the bandwagon. The city of Mangalore in Karnataka has begun studying and teaching Panchakarma again to recapitulate its many benefits to the human system.