RAJAH AYURVEDIC HOSPITALS

Rajah Ayurvedic Hospitals has two Ayurveda centers, one of them being Rajah Islands. The other center, Rajah Healthy Acres is situated on a 180 acre area on a hilly terrain in Kerala, India and offers Ayurveda related services and also manufactures Ayurvedic medicines and related products.

Rajah Ayurvedic Hospitals would soon be having one more Ayurvedic center on a beach in Kerala, India.

Location Map

Facilities

Rajah Islands offers Ayurveda related treatments giving emphasis to adapting the most native and traditional forms of therapy. In addition to Ayurveda, Naturopathic form of treatments are also offered.

To make your stay comfortable, enjoyable and relaxing, various facilities are offered at the Islands. Brief note about these facilities are given below.

• CONSULTATION & PHARMACY

  Resident doctors are available at their consultation rooms, next to the main building. A pharmacy in this building dispenses Ayurvedic preparations as per doctors' advices. There is also a medicine sales unit at the reception in the landing area. Ayurvedic medicines used at Rajah Islands are made at Rajah Healthy Acres, another unit of Rajah Ayurvedic Hospitals, to which Rajah Islands belong. Another building with a view of the waters, houses the treatment rooms.

• CONFERENCE ROOM

  A conference room is situated above the doctors' consultancy. Talks relating to Ayurveda are held in this room occasionally. The room is also used by the guests at other times, for exercises or recreation.

• YOGA & EXERCISES

  A Yoga instructor conducts Yoga classes each day. Paved pathways with a view of the waters allow guests to take long walks. Resting areas close to these pathways are available for people to relax on.

• RECREATION

  A pool with a view of the waters and the main building; facilities for indoor and outdoor games and a small library, are available to the guests.

• FOR THE CHILDREN

  A play area is available for the children.

• BOATING

  Rajah Islands offers boating trips ranging from half hour to hours preferred by the guests. There is a boat that can seat a 100 people as well as smaller boats including speed boats. The scenic beauty of the backwaters of Kerala is well known and tourists and guests love cruising in these waters enjoying the lovely natural beauty of these areas. Most facilities at Rajah Islands are available only to the resident guests of the Islands. But boating services are available to all.

• SITE SEEING & CULTURAL SHOWS

  Thrissur the head quarters of the district in which Rajah Islands is situated, is known as the cultural capital of Kerala. Temple festivals are one of the venues at which cultural events are performed. Rajah Islands occasionally organizes trips to visit these events. Sometimes traditional arts like Kalari are performed at the Islands.

  An elephant camp belonging to the famous Guruvayoor temple has more than fifty elephants. The camp is about 9 Kilometers from the Islands. A visit to this camp is something that our guests really enjoy. There is also an ancient Church established by St. Thomas about 8 Kilometers from the Islands which attracts tourists.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda is the science of life and longevity. This science has been in practice in India for centuries by the old sages as a system of medicine and a way of life.

WHAT IS AYURVEDA

Literally Ayurveda means the science of life. It considers the human body as a whole including mind and soul.

Ayurveda considers disease as a deviation from the normal state of the body and the treatment is intended to bring the patient to the normal state.

TRIDOSHA THEORY IN AYURVEDA

Ancient Indian philosophy says that all the substances in the universe are made up of five basic particles or elements.

These are:

Prithvi (earth), Ap (Water), Thejus (fire), Vayu (air) and Akasha (ether). The different combinations of these five elements occur in various materials.

In case of the living organisms, in order to explain the body functions, these five elements can be consisted into three functional factors called vata, pitha and kapha. These are called tridoshas. In each and every person, the quality of these three will be different as there is much difference in structure and function between persons.

In a person, the balance of these makes the health and imbalance makes the disease.

CONSULTAION AND DIAGNOSIS

The above principles are followed at Rajah Islands for consultation, diagnosis and treatment. First of all a doctor thoroughly evaluates a patient's problems and body conditions. The patient should feel free with the doctor and discuss his or her mental and physical conditions in his or her own words. Only if conditions are communicated with out reservations will the doctor be able to come to clear conclusions about the dosha conditions of the patient's body and mind.

According to this diagnosis, two types of treatments will be decided upon. One for the healthy people to prevent diseases and maintain normal health and second for the sick people to cure the disease and regain normal health.

Relaxation and rejuvenation treatments are for the healthy people and treatments of specific nature are for people with illnesses. After the doctor's diagnosis you will be clear about the type of Ayurvedic treatments that should be administered to you.

CRITERIA FOR DIAGNOSIS

There are different diagnostic criteria to determine the anatomical and physiological changes of the patient's body due to illnesses or disease. There are three methods of examining the patient. The are:

Darshana – inspection, Sparsana – palpation and Prasna – interrogation.

With the help of these three, we can evaluate the data of the patient into two groups.

I. Ashta sthana pareeksha

This includes the nature of the patient's pulse, urine, stool, tongue, sound, touch, eyes and physique.

II. Dasavidha pareeksha

This includes evaluation of the doshas, nature of the living land, his physical strength to withstand the disease as well as the treatment, the season, patient's digestive capacity, his mental and physical constitution or the prakruthi, age, mental strength, habits and the type of his food and exercises.

All these points play equally important roles in the diagnosis of the disease. However paper diagnosis is based on the deranged doshas, and any disease whatever be it's name, can be diagnosed based on the state of doshas and appropriate treatment can be employed. It is described that no physician need be ashamed if he could not name a disease, when he can diagnose and treat any disease depending on the dosha derangement.

Along with these various modern diagnostic techniques like blood and urine tests, X-rays, scans etc. are also made use of for better understanding of the disease.

TREATMENTS IN AYURVEDA

In Ayurveda, treating a disease means, balancing the doshas which is imbalanced due to various factors. Even through two people have the same disease, their treatments ma be different because, in Ayurveda, treatment is not for the disease, but for the patient. For this various methods like internal and external medication and some deviations in diet and exercises are made use of.

Types of treatments

Imbalance of doshas means an increase or decrease in the quantity of doshas. Both conditions can result in diseases. The treatment aims at the increase or promotion of the decreased ones and pacification of the increased ones. For this we have two types of treatments. Sodhana and Samana.

Samana involves procedures by which the deranged or exaggerated doshas are allevated and brought to the normal state and sodhana means the deranged doshas are mobilized and expelled out of the body. The latter method is especially meant for chronic ailments or where the dosha derangement is too much.

After the consultation, the doctor decides one of these treatments according to your dosha derangement and also the temperament. The doctors after discussions among themselves decide on appropriate treatment plan and the internal medicines to be administered, after the consultations are over.

In the Rajah Islands, there are two sessions of treatments in a day. One major treatment in the morning and one minor treatment in the afternoon. Treatments are done by trained staff at the treatment rooms. The medications are also given by the staff at the appropriate time.

Other treatments

Apart from Ayurvedic treatments, there are doctors who provide treatments like Acupuncture, Acupressure, Reiki, Magneto therapy, Electro therapy and physiotherapy. In certain conditions, the doctors may advice you to take the appropriate treatments from these or if you are interested to experience these treatments, you should consult your doctors about it.

Response to treatment

There are some basic pre-requirements for the treatments to be successful and for you to gain good results from the treatments. These are:

• The physician
• Equipments and materials used for the treatment
• Attendants
• The patient

The above four factors should be favorable and in tune with the basic required dictates mentioned in the ancient texts.

For example – the patient – should have full faith in the physician and must be obedient to his advice. He or she must be capable of mentioning his symptoms correctly and he or she should be physically and mentally strong enough to bear the stress of the disease and as well as the treatment procedure. Once the course of treatment prescribed by the doctors are over, rest for double the number of days of treatment or at least for the number of days of treatment are required. One may not get the full benefits of the treatment during the course of treatment. The tissues regain normal health only after the treatments.

Type of Treatment

Routine at Rajah Island

WAKE UP

The healthiest way to start a day is to wake up before sunrise. At that time, the atmosphere will be full of energy and the person who wake up at that time will also gain that energy. Just for a moment think of your body condition and start the day.

ELIMINATION

It is a good practice to have an urge for excretion in the morning hours. According to Ayurveda one should not suppress or force the natural urges, which if done would lead to various diseases.

CARE OF TEETH AND GUMS

In Ayurveda, it is advised that tree twigs of astringent, pungent and bitter tastes are used for brushing the teeth. The twigs should be made into a toothbrush by crushing its end. Instead of the twigs now-a-days herbal tooth powders which contain various herbs good for the teeth and gums are used. This can be mixed with water or honey to make a paste for brushing. After that scrape your tongue with a scrapper which is not sharp and gargle your mouth with plenty of water to remove debris and bad taste in the mouth.

CARE OF EYES AND FACE

Wash your eyes and face with plenty of water or a decoction made of Trhiphala. With a mouth full of water splash water on the eyes, which will give you a fresh feeling.

MEDICINE AT 6 AM

You will get your first dose of the medicine at 6 O' Clock every morning. If you had good sleep on the previous night, you should not sleep after drinking the medicine. Otherwise you can sleep for a while after taking the medication.

EXERCISE

You should take a walk or do exercises according to the strength of your body. While walking you should be properly clothed. Cotton clothing would be the best to use. There are some exercising equipment available at Rajah Islands. You could make use of these equipment after consulting with the doctor.

BREAKFAST

After doctor's consultation initially you will be meeting the dietitian. You can discuss with him or her about your usual diet, likes and dislikes about food etc. The dietitian will prepare a diet chart considering your disease, bodily requirements and the season also. You should eat properly according to your digestion.

You may have your breakfast according to the diet chart when you are hungry. You should eat one hour before treatment or 30 minutes after treatment. You will be told about the treatment time well in advance so that you can decide on the time to eat accordingly.

MORNING TREATMENT

The morning treatment will be a major treatment which will be a massage or dhara etc. One of the doctors accompanied by the treatment staff would be available at the treatment rooms for this treatment. Male patients are treated by mail staff and female patients will be treated by female staff. You will be briefed about the treatments before it begins. All major treatments other than enemas will be of a duration of about 45 minutes.

After treatment you will be given a hot water bath using a herbal powder mixed with egg white as a scrub. The patient should not have a head bath before this treatment in the morning.

REST

After the treatment and bath the patient should dress properly and sit or lie down comfortably as a period of rest. Afterwards you could sit outside listening to soft music or reading. There is a small library at the center which could be made use of.

DRINKING WATER

For drinking you will be supplied with herbal water which is good for improving digestion and to purify blood.

LUNCH

You could have lunch between 12.30 PM and 2 PM. If you feel tired after lunch you could take rest but you should not sleep. Sleeping in the day time is not good during treatments. You could otherwise take a nap sitting in a chair.

AFTERNOON TREATMENT

The minor treatment session in the afternoon will usually be between 3 PM and 4.30 PM. The duration will vary according to the treatment.

YOGA

There will be Yoga sessions in the morning each day. If your conditions allow, you could join for Yoga classes. An instructor will explain about yoga and help you to do the exercises that are beneficial for your disease and body strength.

DINNER

You could have dinner between 6.30 PM and 8.30 PM. The dinner should be lite.

BED TIME

You should go to bed between 9 PM and 9.30 PM. You should not sleep soon after dinner. Take medications if any and think of the day passed and your condition. After that you should go to sleep. It is better to sleep on the left side for proper digestion and breathing.

SOME GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO THE PATIENT

• Food should be timely, in prescribed quantity and quality
• Drink plenty of water, preferably herbal water
• Take medications strictly and on time
• Sex should be avoided, even the thought of it
• Don't sleep during the day time or stay awake at night
• Use warm water for all purposes
• Keep away from due, wind, smoke, dust, rain and sun
• Don't suppress or force the bodily reflexes of micturition, defecation, sneezing etc.
• Wear slippers and cover your head while going out
• Excitement due to anger or sorrow and physical exertion should be avoided

Accommodation

• Kashmiri House Boat : Docked at the second Island, the Kashmiri house boat is accessible from the main Island through the bridge that connects the two Islands or alternatively by boat. The house boat is fully paneled with beautifully carved Deodar wood.

  A small cottage on the second Island serves as the treatment room for the house boats.

• River View Cottage : A sitting area leads to a bedroom section which is partitioned from the other areas by half height partitions. There is a toilet and dressing area connected to this section. This section leads to a bedroom which also has an attached toilet.

• Rajah House Boat

• Lotus Cottage : The Lotus cottage has two bedrooms with doors to each bedroom from the entrance outside. A sitout common to both the bedrooms faces the backwaters.

• Coconut Hut : Build on four coconut palms, the sitout of this hut faces the backwaters. Made of wood panels the hut has a bedroom, toilet and a sitting area at the back. There is also a small verandah at the entrance.

• Suite : A sitting area leads to a bedroom section which is partitioned from the other areas by half height partitions. There is a toilet and dressing area connected to this section. This section leads to a bedroom which also has an attached toilet.

• Deluxe Room :The bedroom has a sitting section with a view of the pool area.

• Double Room : The double AC and non AC rooms are in the main building. There is a good view of the waters from these rooms.