National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Awards 2025 Honour Scholar, Practitioner, and Scientific Innovator
SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
Institutions: Ministry of Ayush
The Ministry of Ayush has conferred the National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Awards 2025 on Prof. Banwari Lal Gaur, Vaidya Neelakandhan Mooss E.T., and Vaidya Bhavana Prasher, recognising their lifetime contributions and contemporary innovations in Ayurveda.
Prof. Banwari Lal Gaur, Sanskrit scholar and educator, has authored 31 books and over 300 academic works, mentoring 24 PhD and 48 postgraduate scholars, and shaping the literary and academic foundation of Ayurveda.
Vaidya Neelakandhan Mooss E.T., head of Kerala’s Vaidyaratnam Group, represents an eighth-generation family tradition, leading 100+ physicians and extending classical practices like Marmayanam and Vajra to wider audiences.
Vaidya Bhavana Prasher, scientist at CSIR–IGIB, has pioneered Ayurgenomics, integrating Prakriti and Tridosha with genomic science. Her AI/ML-based Prakriti analysis is part of the national Rashtriya Prakriti Parikshan Karyakram.
The awards highlight three converging dimensions: the scholar (literature), the custodian (tradition), and the innovator (science). Together, they showcase Ayurveda’s continuity as a classical discipline and its adaptability in modern public health.
By honouring diverse dimensions of Ayurveda, the awards strengthen India’s policy push for integrative health systems, support evidence-based traditional medicine, and expand research linkages between Ayurveda, genomics, and public health.
What are the National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Awards? → Instituted by the Ministry of Ayush, these are among the highest honours in traditional Indian medicine. Named after Lord Dhanwantari, revered as the divine originator of Ayurveda, the awards recognise outstanding lifetime contributions and contemporary innovations in the field. They validate Ayurveda’s role in education, clinical practice, and research, and highlight how traditional knowledge continues to evolve in modern healthcare.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can India institutionalise such recognition into sustainable programmes that connect classical Ayurvedic knowledge, clinical practice, and modern science to strengthen global health leadership?
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