Kerala’s reputation as one of the rarest places on earth where the ayurvedic system of medicine is being practised with dedication is now under a cloud with the proliferation of unauthorised ayurvedic parlours at tourist spots where a dollar-rich foreigner can get the kind of bodily pleasures he desires along with a `herbal’ oil massage.
Though there are hundreds of ayurvedic centres in Kerala offering both rejuvenative programmes (Rasayana Chikitsa) as well as therapeutic programmes (for several kinds of pains and arthritis, rheumatism etc), there is no law to check whether they meet the standards or whether these centres have the necessary facilities like doctors to supervise the treatment. Though the primary objective of ayurveda is ``to maintain and promote the physical, mental and spiritual health of the individual’’ these are sought to be achieved only through a disciplined treatment mode where there is little place for pleasure.