GUJARAT AYURVED UNIVERSITY : About University

Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurved College is a torch bearing institute so far as emitting the rays of Ayurvedic knowledge in Gujarat is concerned. It was far back in 1946 that the foundation of this college was laid by patronage from the then Royal family Maharaja Shri Digvijaysinhji and Maharani Shri Gulabkunverba along with the painstaking efforts of Dr. P. M. Mehta and other luminaries. A monumental structure named Dhanvantari Mandir came into being and it has till date maintained its charm as an extra ordinary architectural site worth seeing at Jamnagar for the tourists and a place attracting Ayurved lovers all over the globe. H. H. Maharaja Shri Digvijaysinhji inaugurated Shri Gulabkunverba Ayurved Mahavidyalaya, on 01/07/1946. The first principal of the college was an eminent philosopher of Ayurved and a successful Vaidya Shri Yadavji Trikamji Acharya.

At the onset, the college was affiliated with the “State Faculty of Ayurved and Unani System of Medicines” of Bombay State and the graduates of Ayurveda were allotted the degree of D. A. S. F. The total administration of Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurved Mahavidyalaya was looked after by Shri Gulabkunverba Ayurved Society. A committee jointly formed from among the members of the Central Govt. and Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurved Society then looked after the “Institute of Ayurvedic Studies and Research”, formulated by an amalgamation of Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurved Mahavidyalaya, CIRISM (Center for Research in Ayurved) and the Post Graduate Institute in 1963.

The Legislative Assembly of Gujarat State passed a bill to establish an autonomous University for Ayurvedic education, and thus the Gujarat Ayurved University was established on 5/01/1967. Jamnagar was decided to be the central functioning place of the University and therefore, Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurved College became a unit of the University.

With the advent of time, this college has cradled the first ever self financed Institute of the University, now known as Maharshi Patanjali Institute for Yoga Naturopathy Education and Research (M. P. I. Y. N. E. R.), which started under the department of Swasthavrutta – Yoga – Nisargopachara since April 1994 as Yoga Kendra and the Prakrutik Upachar Samsthan inaugurated on 5/1/1997. In the same way, as the University took a step forward towards its globalization by signing MOUs with various countries, a need for a special provision for teaching Ayurved to the foreign nationals arose and as a result, for the first time in India, a special B. A. M. S. (Ayurvedacharya) course for the foreigners came into existence since July 1999 where the medium of instruction is English.

Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurved College has ample space for the different departments near the center of the city and is surrounded by various other academic institutions. The surroundings are serene and far from the heavy traffic and pollution. The college is situated at a distance of approximately 3 kms. from the Gandhinagar (Jamnagar) Railway Station and about 3.5 kms. from the GSRTC bus stand. It is around 15 kms away from the Domestic Airport.

There is a huge Botanical Garden with around 250 green drugs of different species for helping the practical study of the students. The college has hostels to facilitate the stay of approximately 100 boys and 130 girls separately, with in the campus of the University. There are separate hostels for the foreigner students also. There are facilities of recreation room and a vast play ground for developing the creativity and the talent of the students in indoor and out door games as well as to recreate themselves.

Together with the establishment of the college, Shri Gulabkunverba Ayurved Chikitsalaya also came into being having a capacity of 150 beds. Various OPDs take care of numerous patients of various diseases on daily routine basis. The students of this institution receive a thorough practical knowledge by the help of these IPD and OPDs.

Looking at the spread of the popularity of Ayurved and increasing demand in the public, some extensions have been done in the Chikitsalaya in past years. A new administrative block and new Panchakarma wing has been built by the grants received from the Dept. of AYUSH in the year 2002 – 03 and 2005 – 06 respectively where as new OPD block has been constructed by the support of ICAS in the year 2006 – 07. During the devastating Earthquake on 26^th Jan. 2001, the existing Chikitsalaya building was damaged and the Government has recently approved the grants for its total reconstruction which is going to commence soon. The surroundings of the hospital are clean and airy with ample plantations.

There are semi special and special rooms for the patients who demand such facilities along with the general wards separately for the males and females. A round the clock emergency facility is also available in the case of any clinical emergency.

The Chikitsalaya, besides the treatments has the facilities of a laboratory to carry out the routine blood, urine and stool examinations of the needy patients at very nominal rates. There is a provision for the x- ray and screening for the patients of the IPD/OPD. The facilities of ECG with monitoring, Sonography and semi Auto Analyzer are also going to be available soon. The surgical unit is well equipped for the minor surgeries, specifically for the ano-rectal cases.