Bhawanath Bhattarai was 80 years old when he was brought to Pashupati to die.After falling ill at his home in Sunsari district, he was rushed to a hospital in Kathmandu. The doctors said they could not do anything for him, and the end was near.  As was the custom, the family brought Bhattarai to Pashupati. He was held inclined in a stretcher so that his feet touched the sacred waters of the Bagmati to ensure smooth passage to heaven as he took his last breath.  Ayurvedic doctor Subarna Baidya was watching from the temple parapet as Bhattarai gasped at the steps to the river. He hurried down and brought Bhattarai to his Pashupati Aryaghat Sewa Kendra where he administered ayurvedic potions. The patient recovered, and was sent home 48 days later. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Seeing-is-believing,2577">Seeing is believing</a>, Sahina ShresthaThat was 20 years ago, and Baidya has never forgotten what his patient told him the day he was discharged: “Baidyaji, give me one of your photos, I will put it next to my god and worship you both.”  Bhattarai would live on for another 12 years, passing away at age 92. His daughters make it a point to visit the doctor at Pashupati every time they are in Kathmandu.Subarna Baidya is descended from a long line of ayurvedic practitioners who have tended to the dying at Pashupati temple. (His surname actually means '<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-return-of-the-baidyas,1623" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">traditional healer</a>'). His father Mohan Baidya looked after poet laureate Laxmi Prasad Devkota as he lay battling for breath at Pashupati for 11 days before he died in 1959.  Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/medicine-goes-back-to-its-roots/">Medicine goes back to its roots</a>, Sonia Awale <img width="1680" height="1120" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208c49c7e80680e0b5505jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Subarna was 11 then, and helped his father at the Pashupati Aryaghat Sewa Kendra as he treated and provided spiritual support to the terminally ill. After his father died in 1995, Subarna stepped into his role of the ‘Ghate Baidya’ (crematoria doctor).While his skills as a practitioner of Ayurveda have been passed down to him through generations, Subarna Baidya institutionalised the practice in 1995, turning the Sewa Kendra into an Ayurvedic clinic. Most of his patients are in their final stages, after allopathic doctors in modern hospitals have given up trying to save their lives. After they are brought to Pashupati, Subarna Baidya examines each patient -- asking about their diet, examining their bile, kidneys, lungs. He takes their pulse and then prescribes an appropriate ayurvedic medicine like tulsi seeds, cardamom, nutmeg, nageswar, ashwagandha, or sanjeevani.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/traditional-tibetan-medicine-gets-global-following-but-not-government-support,2604">Himalayan healers</a>, Ayesha Shakya <img width="1680" height="1120" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208c79c7e80680e0b5506jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1553" height="1035" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208ca9c7e80680e0b5507jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1441" height="961" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208cd9c7e80680e0b5508jpeg.jpg" alt="">"My father's knowledge of herbs, which he passed onto me, as well as my own study and research enabled me to devise treatment plans for liver-related diseases, cancer, asthma and jaundice,” says Baidya. Treatment is free for most patients and the hospice has grown from one bed to 35 thanks to donations from patients who lived after being given up for dead.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-good-doctor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The good doctor</a>, Lisa ChoegyalSubarna Baidya remembers many of them. Like Bishnumaya Lama, who  brought her five-year-old son Umit to Kathmandu from Kulekhani when he fell gravely ill 16 years ago. Doctors at a city hospital said the boy’s kidneys had stopped working, and gave him only a few days to live.  Grief-stricken, Bishnumaya brought Umit to Pashupati thinking it was for his funeral. But at the Pashupati Aryaghat Sewa Kendra, his health began to improve after Baidya's treatment. He was discharged after a  month.Amit is now a 21-year-old student. He says, “My mother is convinced it was the Baidya who saved my life.”Read also:<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/I-am-an-amchi,3349"> I am an amchi</a>, Sabine Pretch <figure><img width="555" height="693" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208d09c7e80680e0b5509jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Five-year-old Umit Lama, who had double kidney failure, was treated by Subarna Baidya.</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1680" height="1120" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208d39c7e80680e0b550ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Umit Lama, now 21 years old, with his mother Bishnumaya Lama.</figcaption></figure>In 2007, Ek Bahadur Shakya’s family brought him to hospital in Kathmandu from Trisuli after both his <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kidney-patients-dying-due-to-covid-19-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">kidneys failed</a>. Doctors told the family to bring him home so he could live out his last days comfortably.Prepared for the worst, Raju Shakya took his father directly to Pashupati. But within a month he was walking around and lived for another year.   “Thanks to Subarna Baidya I could spend more time with my father, he brought him back to life after hospitals had given up,” says Raju.As Subarna Baidya’s fame spread, it was not just those in their last throes who came to his centre. Badri Kumari Gautam suffered from asthma, and was taken by her son to see Subarna Baidya after modern drugs did not make her better. Within a week of starting on Baidya's ayurvedic prescription, she started breathing easier.Baidya has carefully saved letters that patients and relatives write after they get home. "The words are a source of constant inspiration and proves the importance of the work we do,” says Baidya.<a href="http://nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4418#.WCVzGi197IU" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amchi renaissance</a>, Naresh Newar <img width="642" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208d59c7e80680e0b550bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="645" height="950" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637208d89c7e80680e0b550cjpeg.jpg" alt="">Subarna Baidya has saved latters written to him by patients.To be sure, not everyone makes a miraculous recovery. After all, this is a place where people bring relatives when there is no hope left. Still, they believe that taking a last breath on the banks of the Bagmati is a passport to heaven.Baidya has noticed that many patients are tired of fighting for life, and are waiting for their final goodbyes. “Many are waiting to see their children for the last time, and as soon as they come from abroad, they let go,” he says.The building that houses the Sewa Kendra was rebuilt during the reign of Chandra Shamsher Rana, and it is showing its age. Despite being in the premises of the Pashupati Development Trust, it is in a dilapidated state.For Subarna Baidya, this is where he has worked and lived for the past 30 years, carrying on the work of his ancestors. Every day, he mourns deaths of patients but also celebrates miraculous recoveries.  He says matter-of-factly, “Death is difficult, but on days I can send someone home, I sleep peacefully.”Read also: <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18955#.WCVxgC197IU" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amchis want recognition</a>, Naresh NewarAdapted from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/128158">original</a> in Himal Khabar.

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The healer of Pashupati

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00c19c7e80680e0a35f4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3686" height="2690"/><figcaption>Photo: CREATIVE COMMONS</figcaption></figure>Nearly two years after the global <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/behind-the-masks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 pandemic</a> began, there has been a revival of traditional Ayurveda medicines that boost the human immune system. While some dismiss herbal treatments as quackery, even allopathic doctors are now prescribing Ayurvedic formulations.During the pandemic, treatment protocols have shifted from treating the immediate symptoms to preventing multiple infections and better management of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/had-covid-beware-of-long-covid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">post-recovery complications</a>.Seriously sick patients do need hospitalisation, oxygen or even ventilators, and modern medicine is good at saving lives. However, it is in boosting immunity, preventing infections and whole-body healing that natural herbal medicines serve an important function.“I do not treat Covid-19, but I do get a lot of patients who have recovered from the disease but continue to experience long-term symptoms,” says Piyush Bajracharya who runs an Ayurveda clinic in Patan. “And there are a lot of people who want to boost their immune system to protect themselves from the virus.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-good-doctor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The good doctor</a>, Lisa ChoegyalAyurveda has evolved over 3,000-years-old in the Subcontinent, and was recognised by the World Health Organistion at its Alma Ata conference in 1978. The Himalaya, and especially Nepal, is considered a rich repository of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-grass-is-greener-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">medicinal plants</a> – a belief enshrined in the Ramayana where Hanuman rips out an entire mountain when he could not find the exact herb to treat his master, Laxman, who was wounded in battle.“Modern medicine has its roots in our ancestral knowledge of plants and herbs, passed from one generation to another,” says noted physician Sundar Mani Dixit, adding that the most modern drugs in cardiology and painkillers are derived from the herbs with the Himalaya being the treasure trove of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-the-treasure-trove-of-nepals-orchids/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">medicinal plants</a>.Expensive hospital bills and costly medicines with serious side effects in addition to the rise of new infections and lifestyle diseases have meant that patients and doctors are increasingly turning to natural plant-based treatment systems.There is now a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464620303959" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">growing body of research</a> that proves the efficacy of various medicinal herbs, the ingredients of Ayurveda, in the treatment of influenza, dengue, arthritis, herpes, inflammatory bowel diseases and coronaviruses. Many more plants and their formulations are proven immune enhancers.“Over the millennia our ancestors led a population oriented natural research in the laboratory of the world, but now scientific methods have polished and refined the development of these treatments,” adds Dixit.Despite being a seasoned allopathic practitioner, Dixit himself prescribes to his patients herbal formulations to modulate immune responses. They include Terminalia chebula (Harro), Moringa oleifera, (Nim, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4296439/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tulsi</a>), Piper longum (Pipli), Picrorhiza kurroa, (Kalmegha), black pepper, turmeric, Chirayita, Black elder, (Ashwagandha), Tinospora cordifolia (Gurjo) and Liquorice root (Jethimadhu).To be sure, Ayurveda has its limitations. It cannot cure specific conditions quickly as modern drugs do, and is more effective against primary diseases of the respiratory system and digestive tract such as cold and cough, flu, gastritis, indigestion, as well as allergies.It can also treat initial stages of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-do-so-many-nepalis-have-high-blood-pressure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blood pressure</a>, diabetes, cholesterol, triglyceride and liver diseases, as well as cancers specific to an organ not belonging to a system such as uterus or breast.There is also a common misconception that there are no side effects to Ayurveda medicines, but this is not true -- only multi-vitamins or supplements can be taken without consultation.“If you self-medicate without referring to the doctors on dosage and duration, chances are high that they will harm you, even if they are common kitchen spices, which has often been the case during this pandemic,” explains Piyush Bajracharya.This week at <a href="https://vaidyakhana.gov.np" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Singha Durbar Vaidyakhana</a>, the state-run Ayurveda outlet, the sales counter had run out of some of the more popular immune boosters like Chawanpras and Triphala because of an increase in demand for them since the pandemic.“It is a matter of further research whether traditional medicine directly inhibit Covid-19 infections, but they do increase one’s overall immunity and in case of an infection, people have less severe symptoms,” says Sabari Sah, head of the Singha Durbar Vaidyakhana.“After all, Ayurveda is a science of healthy living,” he adds. “If people follow the basic rules of a healthy diet, exercises and positive thinking, then more often than not you won’t fall sick.”<h2>Your friendly neighbourhood Baidya</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00c49c7e80680e0a35f5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="263"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Yogendra Shrestha Baidya is the 23rd generation of traditional healers in his family. His training began at 10, when he started learning to find, grind and mix various herbs and spices in his ancestral home in Patan’s Sundhara neighbourhood.“We’ve continued the Baidya tradition for centuries, but I can’t see my children following in my footsteps,” says the 59-year-old, whose surname denotes his profession. “The times are changing even as the demand for our medicines has increased.”Ayurveda seems to be moving from the hands of traditional healers like the Baidya who passed their knowledge from one generation to the next, to trained Ayurveda professionals. It is not restricted to a particular clan anymore.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-return-of-the-baidyas,1623" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The return of the baidyas</a>, Sonia AwaleDuring the course of an hour-long conversation at his small shop stocked with his own herbal mixtures, and with the rich aroma of many herbs, Baidya got a call on his mobile from a father worried about his child’s dysentery. Next, a pharmaceutical agent dropped by for 20 bottles of digestive tablets.Three masked patients with various medical conditions waited on a bench for their Ayurveda mixtures to be prepared. One of them was a 66-years-old patient who had bicycled for one hour from Hatiban to get medicines for his digestive disorder. He also wanted a consultation for his wife who has high blood pressure and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/diabetes-in-south-asia,3018" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">diabetes</a>.“She is tired of taking so many tablets, I thought we could switch to Nepali medicine,” he said. But Yogendra Shrestha Baidya advises him to have his wife continue using allopathic drugs. “Since you have already started on those medicines, it is not advisable to discontinue that.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&amp;v=apDiIbQMYhY&amp;feature=emb_logoThe new proliferation of herbal treatments and Ayurveda has also meant malpractice, people with fake credentials claiming to have a cure for chronic diseases have taken to social media to propagate them.The Nepal government now allows only certified professionals to operate Ayurveda clinics, but this also risks discouraging the Baidya clans where knowledge has been passed down through many generations of traditional healers.“We need policies to regulate the malpractices but I can’t go back to medical school now,” says Baidya, who is a botanist by education. “Genuine traditional healers should get to practice, I have the practical knowledge and I should be allowed to treat my community.”Sonia Awale

Sonia Awale

Medicine goes back to its roots

<figure><img width="2082" height="1266" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141132/636cfdb69c7e80680e0a0bfdjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The newly developed ayurvedic 'centre of excellence' is nestled beneath the forests of Nagarjun, just half an hour from Kathmandu. The centre is a legacy of ayurvedic doctor Rishi Ram Koirala who passed away last week.</figcaption></figure>I had an appointment with Rishi Ram Koirala the day before he suffered his fatal heart attack. Last week Nepal has lost one of its most celebrated ayurvedic practitioners, the founder and medical director of the renowned <a href="http://The newly developed ayurvedic 'centre of excellence' is nestled beneath the forests of Nagarjun, just half an hour from Kathmandu. The centre is a legacy of ayurvedic doctor Rishi Ram Koirala who passed away last week." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ayurveda Health Home</a>.
It was a fortuitous blessing that I was able to see him one last time, taking a friend for a consultation. Whilst we sipped glasses of tulsi tea in the clinic’s waiting area heavy with the scent of oil and powder, I struggled to find any bone fide complaints to waste his precious time.
Dr Rishi’s kind brown eyes seemed to sparkle with health. “It’s been years,” he greeted me. Wearing a voluminous green gown, blue hair net, surgical gloves, double masks and a face shield, the eyes were all I could see of his slight, sprightly figure. But enthusiasm and gentle wisdom shone through the clear plastic sheet.
“You are lucky to be so healthy at your age.” I muttered something about preferring to lose some weight and could feel his dismissive hidden humour: “It must be your inner nature. How are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/dads-deception/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tenzin and the boys</a>?” We caught up with family news and updates on his practice. I wish now the I had thought to ask him how he was.
Dr Rishi took my pulse in his little office across the courtyard of the Dhapasi clinic, flanked by two of his junior doctors similarly adorned in full PPE, learning skills from the master. On the walls were colourful renditions of the naked body showing ancient pressure points, chakras and energy channels. Stacked on shelves were rows of red-topped glass jars containing mysterious medicines of essential natural ingredients, herbs, tablets and dried plants.
“I’ve been busy, still lecturing all over the world via Zoom, and I’ve just submitted a paper on ayurvedic policy for the National Planning Commission and Ministry of Health.” His eyes sparkled. 
“And we are now producing our own medicines from home-grown herbs and plants on our land beyond Nagarjun. We are expanding our factory to process these, taking advantage of the government restrictions on importing pharmaceuticals and trying to break the stranglehold of the cartels exporting all <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-grass-is-greener-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s best medicinal plants</a> to India.”
Dr Rishi’s reputation as a skilled and compassionate doctor, ayurvedic master and yogic practitioner with three decades of experience, extends across the globe. With degrees from Banaras and Kathmandu, his <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-return-of-the-baidyas,1623" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ayurvedic expertise</a> was based on nearly 12 years of intensive studies. 
I ask about Covid-19, and Dr Rishi explains that ayurvedic remedies are particularly effective in its prevention, building up the body’s immunity, and to restore strength during the recovery period. Their 12 doctors and over 30 professionals do not provide healthcare for infectious diseases.
First established in 1995, the Dhapasi clinic was expanded in 2001 as a joint venture with Marilies Foerster, a German nurse who Dr Rishi describes as “our sister”. The extensive family partnership is anchored by Badri Koirala his younger brother, and their sons and daughters, some of whom have enriched the enterprise by combining conventional western medical qualifications with their knowledge of traditional techniques.
Dr Rishi and his family’s pioneering <a href="http://ayurvedacenternepal.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">panchakarma centre</a> in Nepal is unique in South Asia. Considered to be the essence of ayurveda, panchkarma is a holistic process designed for maintaining and supporting inner harmony. Consisting of cleansing, detoxifying, immune-enhancing, rejuvenating, and curative measures against disease, it restores harmony and balance to the mind, emotions and senses. Treatment programmes impart the benefits of pure natural products and holistic healing techniques developed from the subtle ancient knowledge of the Vedas.
Many foreigners and Nepalis have benefitted over the years with courses of therapy prescribed by Dr Rishi’s team of devoted trained professionals. Pre-pandemic groups of Europeans and Americans would arrive with a range of ailments, often staying for several weeks at a time. 
“Foreigners of 122 nations have taken our services, including high-ranking officials from Russia and the Middle East,” he said.
In anticipation of the return of this loyal international following, the Ayurvedic Health Resort is being developed as an ‘ayurvedic centre of excellence’ on a forested slope behind Nagarjun. Bordering on the national park and community forest, this sylvan retreat consists of a hotel of 28 rooms with wholesome vegetarian food and dedicated space for treatments, teachings, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/yoga-in-the-time-of-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">meditation and yoga</a>. 
Nurseries and flower beds cultivate the finest quality herbal plants, and a production unit processes oils, potions and remedies according to the most efficacious medical tradition.
Huge picture windows at the comfortable new Nagarjun centre overlook the dense green cradle of forest that reverberates with life, birds call during the day and insects by night. An unseen river gurgles below the steep drop off below my balcony, and the occasional aircraft passes overhead. 
During our monsoon visit mists threaded the valleys, tendrils of clouds draped the hilltops and rain hammered the roof. Badri explains the building reflects the principles of vastu shastras, and it exudes peace and serenity from the moment we arrive. The weekend prescription plan of curative activities includes abhyanga massages, body scrubs, steam chambers, the oil flow of shirodhara and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/reclaiming-singing-bowls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Himalayan singing bowl</a> therapy.
Kathmandu Valley is a spiritual melting pot of great healers. From all points of the compass the ancient therapeutic traditions converge in the shadow of the Himalaya – Ayurveda from India, Tibetan and Chinese. Some practitioners are a well-kept secret, revealing themselves only when necessary and only to those in need.
Rishi Ram Koirala was a quiet modest man, but his <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10642#.YSHLzi2B2fQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">healing skills</a>, diagnostic expertise and extraordinary knowledge were widely respected throughout the world. His legacy will live on with the Ayurvedic Health Resort enterprise, but he himself will be sorely missed by many.