Ayurveda
in Ulpotha, Sri Lanka
Ulpotha
has recently introduced an exciting program of Ayurveda treatments
since it possesses the ideal climate and environment for the practise
of this deeply traditional art. Until recently, Ulpotha had offered
non-specific and general native treatments such as steam and infused
water baths. The main reason for the absence of Ayurveda in Ulpotha was
that the founders wanted to wait until the right person crossed their
path to carry out what is a very specialised therapeutic practise.
Ayurveda does not rely purely on knowledge, but includes the spiritual
and the intangible in a holistic approach to good health and healing.
Hence, when the founders of Ulpotha met Dr. Srilal Mudunkothge B.A.M.S.,
they believed they had found the person they could place their confidence and
trust in to establish an ayurvedic
practise in
Ulpotha. They felt that his qualifications and credentials, combined
with his understanding of the profound importance that a healthy and
natural environment has to the process of healing, make him the ideal
practitioner to re-introduce Ayurveda to Ulpotha.
As an
integral part of the arrangements made with Dr. Srilal, a local
Ayurvedic clinic was established in August, 2005, to treat local
villagers free of charge. This initiative, which includes free
medicines, takes us back to the traditional way Ayurveda was dispensed,
where patients rarely if ever paid in cash for the medical care they
received. Instead they would make a symbolic offering of betel leaves
to the doctor at the time of consultation and make their own services
in kind available to the doctor.
Ayurveda
Treatment Programmes
|
Programme Length
|
Additional Cost per Person
|
Note
|
|
One Week
|
£200
|
Whilst
you can choose the length of your programme, the specific
nature and content will be determined after your individual
consultation with Dr Srilal.
|
|
Ten Days
|
£300
|
|
Two Weeks
|
£400
|
|
Three Weeks
|
£600
|
|
Four Weeks
|
£800
|
The
primary aim of ayurveda is to balance the body’s energies and
thus restore one’s health and vitality. Ulpotha is a
particularly suitable place in which to undergo ayurvedic treatment, as
the food and the environment complement the therapies and serve to
underscore the holistic approach of AYURVEDA itself.
Subject to availability, all guests may consult Dr. Srilal,
Ulpotha’s resident ayurvedic doctor, to learn about their
state of health from an ayurvedic perspective or to simply satisfy
their curiosity. This first consultation is free.
If a treatment programme is desired, Dr. Srilal will prepare a
personalized detoxification and rejuvenation treatment plan for each
individual. Central to the drawing up of a program is the consultation.
Through this the doctor will get a sense of what imbalances are
present, what type of body type is involved and which of the therapies
described below need to be administered.
The Ayurveda programmes begin with detoxification therapies,
which consist of preparatory and specialized elimination treatments.
Preparatory treatments are called oleation and fomentation therapies
and consist of oil applications, massage, steam and medicinal
bath therapies. Specialised elimination therapies on the other hand consist
of emesis, purgation and inhalation treatments among others. All of
these are used to bring the body’s energies into balance,
though not all of them will be necessary in all cases.
Once a balance is achieved, nourishing therapies are administered to
maintain that balance. These rejuvenation treatments consist of traditional
ayurvedic remedies using organic ingredients.
What
You Can Expect...
All
treatments, regardless of the personalized elements of a treatment that
stem from a personal consultation, contain preparatory and elimination
therapies. The preparatory therapies are the ones everyone likes and
most ayurveda is known for - massages, oil applications, steam baths,
saunas and herbal baths. Elimination therapies on the other hand, are
the ones that some - if not most - people will find a little bit more
challenging to accept. They consist of what is more commonly known as
panchakarma (ie. the five specialized elimination therapies): emesis
(vomiting), purgation, inhalation, enemas and blood-letting.
If a treatment is short in length, say one week or ten days, then you
only have enough time for preparatory treatments that would support
inhalation as an elimination therapy. If you have two weeks, then you
can also undergo purgation. For emesis, enemas and blood-letting you
need at least three weeks and ideally four weeks. However, the
consultation is critical to determine which of the elimination
therapies are required. If someone is particularly weak, then they will
be subject to much more of the preparatory treatments and very little
of the elimination therapies regardless of how long a program they have
chosen. In other words, while you need to be on a long program to get
into say emesis or enemas, it's not necessarily the case that you will
definitely be subject to them if you choose a three or four week
program if the consultation determines otherwise.
For the one week and ten day programs, guests will receive treatments
every day. Each day will consist of roughly two hours of treatments.
The two week program will have one or two rest days, the three week
will have two or three rest days and the four week will have three or
four rest days.
If we take an example of a one week program, the first day will consist
of a full head and face and body massage (superficial tissue, or
relaxing massage) followed by a herbal bath. Guests will also be given
appropriate remedies to take, starting the first day for each day of
their treatment - these remedies are meant to facilitate the treatments
being received. The second day will consist of intensive, deep
tissue body massage (no head and face) followed by a sauna or steam
bath. The
third day will consist of a relaxing body massage followed by shirodara
oil application. The fourth day will consist of an inhalation
therapyaccompanied by a head and face massage and a face
steam. The fifth day
will be a sarvangadara oil treatment (from a layman's terms, this is a
shirodara but one for the whole body) followed by a steam bath. The
sixth day will be a full body massage carried out using poultices made
of a special milk rice made using medicinal decoctions followed by a
warm water bath. The seventh day is a herbal facial treatment
consisting of cleansing scrub, face steam, massage and herbal
pack.
Treatments will be scheduled either in the morning
or in the afternoon. Guests will have the rest of each day to
hang out and do other things, including the optional yoga
classes.
Guests having treatment will be able to attend at least one
yoga class a day. Sometimes they may prefer to just relax after
treatments which is fine. The doctor says the more
relaxing the yoga the better, which means astanga yoga would be better
avoided.
Costs
At present there are five
different programme periods on offer at Ulpotha: One week, ten day, two
week, three week, and four week treatments, costing £200,
£300, £400, £600 and £800
respectively. On your arrival in Ulpotha you will be introduced to Dr.
Srilal, who can book you in for a consultation. Depending on your
suitability for treatment and availability, he will administer the
programme length of your choice and/or needs.
A
little History of Ayurveda in Sri Lanka
In
ancient times, when Sri Lanka was called
‘Thamrapanee’, its inhabitants discovered that
there were certain plants which, if boiled with water, crushed,
powdered, or used internally or externally, relieved pain or had other
beneficial effects on various disorders.
Through time, many other plants with medically useful properties were
discovered and incorporated into therapeutic recipes. These properties
were used to influence the functioning of various specific internal
organs and to cure disease. The practice of this indigenous medicine
was based on observation and clarity of recording, rather than theory
and symptomology.
In the 6th century BC, Prince Vijaya came to the island from India with
a group of people and became its king. He renamed the island
Singhaladveepa and ruled for nearly 40 years. He was the first king of
the island and was reputed to have been an expert in the Sixty Four
Arts (Siwsata Kala), one of which is Ayurveda.
It was Prince Vijaya, together with his personal physician who came
with him to the island, who introduced Ayurveda to Sri
Lanka. Ayurveda is the codified, indigenous medicine
of India that is based on Indian
Samkya philosophy. It is a complex therapeutic and medicinal system
encompassing philosophy, psychology and spirituality together with a
deep understanding of the nature of disease.
Over the centuries, Ayurveda incorporated elements of native treatments
indigenous to the island and this knowledge was honed and handed down
through the ages.
In 1790, during the reign of the last king of Sri Lanka, King Sri
Wickrama Rajasinghe, a son of the king’s personal physician
became a monk and built a temple in a village called Neelammahara,
where he practised indigenous Ayurvedic medicine. This was the
beginning of the now-famous Neelammahara medicinal heritage, which
specializes in the treatment of mental illness. Over the next two
centuries the tradition was passed from generation to generation as its
reputation grew throughout the island.
Our
Doctor's Ayurveda Heritage
In
1942, a young boy by the name of Sooriya Arachchige Amaratunga went
with his mother and brother to see the island’s leading
practitioner of the Neelammahara tradition, Dr. Ven. Dehiwela
Dhammaloka Thero, for the treatment of his brother. He was immediately
captivated by the art and science of ayurveda as practised by the
Thero. So much so that the Thero decided to take the young man under
his wing and to become his mentor. After a long and illustrious period
of study under the Thero, he went to study under another famous
physician specializing in the Elvitigala tradition, which covers
general indigenous medicine.
After obtaining honours in Neelammahara and Elvitigala traditions, Dr.
Amaratunga came into his own, practicing the rare combination of the
two. Dr. Amaratunga enjoyed a long and illustrious career as both a
practicing physician as well as a teacher.
As his life matured, he looked for a suitable candidate to whom he
could pass his unique knowledge. In 1997, Dr. Amaratunga anointed a
third year student, who was studying indigenous medicine at the
University of Colombo at the time, to carry on his rare heritage. That
student was Srilal Mudunkothge. Srilal completed his formal studies by
obtaining a Bachelors Degree in Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery and
thereafter registering as a general and special doctor with the
Ayurvedic Medical Council of Sri Lanka in 2002 and 2003 respectively.
He is also registered as a Pharmacist with the Sri Lanka Medical
Council.
After practicing as an Ayurvedic physician in Colombo for
the past four years, Dr. Srilal is now based in Ulpotha. He
intends to establish a unique practise in the tradition of his illustrious ayurvedic
forebears, Dr. Ven. Dehiwela Dhammaloka Thero and Dr. Amaratunga. To facilitate
him in this, Ulpotha has set up a free Ayurveda clinic where Dr
Srilal diagnoses
and dispenses free medicines to over 100 local villagers weekly. The cost of
this is paid for by the money raised from the ayurveda treatments paid
for by guests to Ulpotha. Guests are encouraged to visit the free clinic during
their time at Ulpotha where they can learn about some of the plants that are
commonly used in Ayurvedic treatment. Many of the medicinal
herbs and plants used in Ayurveda are
grown in the compound surrounding the clinic.
