Overview of the Best Ayurvedic Resorts in India

What is Ayurve­da? The holis­tic prac­tice of ancient Indi­an med­i­cine (over 5,000 years old) is to find har­mo­ny with prakri­ti, not just diet and well­ness. It dif­fers from allopa­thy because it treats the per­son, not the dis­ease. This sci­ence of healthy liv­ing and the art of tra­di­tion­al heal­ing teach­es us to respect who we are. Unlike today, there was a time when man was one with nature and alien­at­ed from suf­fer­ing. To get that bal­ance again, you need to tap into the vast ocean of knowl­edge that the moth­er of the Vedas has to offer, or sim­ply lie down and let the mas­sage ther­a­pists’ mag­i­cal hands heal your chakras (sev­en cen­ters of spir­i­tu­al ener­gy). Not sur­pris­ing­ly, many choose the lat­ter option.

For those who want to get in touch with the inner con­scious­ness and believe in the mantra “health is wealth”, here are some of the main direc­tions of Ayurve­da in India:

Somatheeram Ayurveda Resort, Kerala

God’s Own Coun­try is proud to be the birth­place of Ayurve­da. Enjoy the ulti­mate heal­ing expe­ri­ence at Somath­eer­am, the world’s first Ayurvedic resort, locat­ed close to Kovalam Beach. The beau­ti­ful sea­side resort is the best choice for trav­el­ers on both Ayurvedic hol­i­days and spir­i­tu­al jour­neys. The ther­a­py called Pizhichil uses warm veg­etable oils to help treat paral­y­sis and ner­vous dis­or­ders. Where­as “Nasyam” and “Sne­ha­panam” can fight against skin dis­eases and sports injuries. In addi­tion to these mas­sages, yoga class­es, ele­phant rides, cul­tur­al activ­i­ties and shop­ping trips to near­by places are offered. Tour oper­a­tor Ker­ala Dream Mart offers Ayurvedic tours to India at the best resorts in the coun­try.

Ananda in the Himalayas, Uttarakhand

Nes­tled in the pic­turesque foothills of the Himalayas, Anan­da Resort is the pre­mier health resort in North­ern India. It com­bines the well-being prin­ci­ples of East and West and focus­es on the virtues of Ayurve­da and Vedan­ta as well as inter­na­tion­al well­ness pro­grams. This tran­quil spot on the out­skirts of Rishikesh is high­ly respect­ed with over 80 treat­ments rang­ing from beau­ty to fit­ness. Guests can relax in the tem­per­a­ture-con­trolled out­door swim­ming pools or indulge in yoga class­es, Vedan­ta lec­tures, cook­ing class­es and nature walks.

Devaya Ayurveda Spa Resort, Goa

Most peo­ple don’t real­ly explore the beau­ty of Goa beyond the beach­es and forts. Locat­ed in the heart of Pana­ji, Devaaya Resort is a lux­u­ri­ous Ayurvedic cen­ter offer­ing pan­chakar­ma pro­grams, a proven prac­tice for detox­i­fy­ing, cleans­ing and reju­ve­nat­ing the body, mind and soul. A typ­i­cal day for guests includes yoga class­es, natur­opa­thy treat­ments, med­i­ta­tion and cul­tur­al pro­grams. The cen­ter has oth­er facil­i­ties such as a sauna, spa treat­ments, a swim­ming pool, a gym and a jog­ging track.

Ayurvedic village Kairali, Kerala

This eco-resort is locat­ed in the quaint town of Palakkad, which is enchant­ed by the beau­ty of the West­ern Ghats. This pre­mier well­ness work­shop runs spe­cial work­shops and well­ness pro­grams aimed at reliev­ing stress, arthri­tis, migraines, weight loss and more, as well as pro­vid­ing the ben­e­fits of tra­di­tion­al Vedic hos­pi­tal­i­ty. Guests are offered spa treat­ments with veg­etable oils and beau­ti­ful vil­las accord­ing to their zodi­ac signs.

Bay Leaf Ayurveda Spa Resort, Andhra Pradesh

The lead­ing Ayurvedic resort in Visakha­p­at­nam, Bay Leaf is the per­fect place to stay in Andhra Pradesh­to. Ayurvedic spa ser­vices here include: full body mas­sages to remove tox­ins, oil treat­ments to nour­ish hair, dry mas­sages to stim­u­late blood flow, neck and shoul­der mas­sages to treat insom­nia, and foot mas­sages to restore the cen­tral ner­vous sys­tem. Stay at least for a week­end at these rus­tic cot­tages for an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence.

Ayurvedagram, Karnataka

Indulge in a world of eth­nic charm and com­fort at Ban­ga­lore’s most renowned Ayurveda­gram well­ness resort in White­field. Spread across nine acres, the resort offers com­pre­hen­sive treat­ment for arthri­tis, dia­betes, obe­si­ty, depres­sion, infer­til­i­ty and joint pain. Wake up to the call of the birds, then opt for sig­na­ture hon­ey, cucum­ber and rose water facials. A typ­i­cal day in Ayurveda­gram includes morn­ing walks, yoga class­es and group med­i­ta­tion with three meal inter­vals.

AVN Swasthya — Ayurveda Village, Tamil Nadu

This Ayurvedic cen­ter pro­vides holis­tic well­ness pro­grams (both indi­vid­ual and pre-deter­mined) in a nat­ur­al set­ting designed to pro­vide heal­ing and com­fort. Some of them are: Vishran­ti, Ojasya, Visud­hi, Jivani and Laagb­ha­va offer­ing com­plete detox­i­fi­ca­tion, reju­ve­na­tion, stress relief, immune boost­ing as well as skin care. Locat­ed in the famous tem­ple city of Madu­rai, it is one of the best Ayurvedic resorts in India, where yoga class­es are also taught by trained prac­ti­tion­ers.