Date: November 13, 2020
Theme: A global initiative to promote and preserve the health science of Ayurveda in alignment with UN-WHO Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages)
About The Event
Sustainable living is a growing need of the world today and Ayurveda has been a pioneer and the earliest proponent of this. In recognition of this ancient wisdom and health science, which has an increasing relevance for the modern age, October 25 was celebrated as Ayurveda Day across the globe in 2019. This first ever collective initiative on a global scale to promote, preserve and share yet another gift from India with the world, saw enthusiastic participation from over 32 countries including USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Peru, Chile, and others. The day aimed to promote the UN-WHO Sustainable Development Goal 3 (ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages) through the science of Ayurveda. This day also coincided with Dhanvantari Day, which this year falls on Friday, November 13.
The Ayurveda Day initiative was conceived and anchored by India Foundation’s Center for Public Diplomacy and Soft Power, Chennai, with support from the Ministry of AYUSH and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), under the able guidance of internationally recognized Ayurveda stalwarts. In 2019, several organizations and thousands of individuals held events locally to mark this day in support of the spirit of Ayurveda.
In 2020, Ayurveda doctors, students, enthusiasts and supporters from over 70 countries, have confirmed their support for the event. The knowledge partners for the initiative are AyurVAID Hospitals, JIVA Ayurveda and the Amrita School of Ayurveda.
Due to the ensuing pandemic and uncertainty around it, all country representatives have been advised and encouraged to choose virtual formats for the Ayurveda Day celebration in 2020, depending on the prevalent rules and norms of their respective countries. In addition, this year, the Center plans to collect 5 million signatures digitally to showcase the support for the proclamation of a World or Global Ayurveda Day.
As part of the common minimum program, each country is requested to organize a virtual talk on ‘Ayurveda in 2030’ and take the Ayurveda Day pledge that is optional. In addition, the countries are requested to choose their specifics for the virtual talk.
The global initiative is supported by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India and the ICCR.
The core group members of the global initiative include Mr. Ram Madhav (Member, Board of Governors, India Foundation), Mrs. Lalitha Kumaramangalam (Director, India Foundation), Mr. Rajiv Vasudevan (Founder and CEO, AyurVAID Hospitals and Founder, CII Core Group on Ayurveda), Dr. Ram Manohar (Research Director, Amrita School of Ayurveda), Dr. Partap Chauhan (Director, JIVA Ayurveda), Dr. Mahadevan Seetharaman (Founder, AYUSH Global, USA), Dr. Pooja Sabharwal (Assistant Professor), Ms. Ritika Patni (Founder, Art of Health, Singapore) and Mr. Sudarshan Ramabadran (Senior Research Fellow and Administrative Head, India Foundation’s Center for Public Diplomacy and Soft Power).