ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (Department of Holistic Medicine):

Alternative and Complimentary Medicine (Holistic Medicine) is a group of diverse health care system, that is presently not considered to be a part of modern medicine. Complimentary medicine is used with modern medicine e.g. Yoga, Massage baths, etc. Alternative medicine is used instead of modern medicine like Homoeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, etc. The Indian system of medicine includes Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Yoga and Naturopathy, whereas Homoeopathy has a German origin.

A large section of the world's population believes in traditional medicine, despite the great advancements in allopathic medicine. India has produced some well-defined systems of medicine. Indian systems of medicine hold that health is a dynamic process, not just an absence
of disease. These systems are more patient centered (the personality of the patient as significant as what the problem is) and less invasive. 

The idea that health involves both the mind and body, emphasized in Indian philosophy and medicine is getting worldwide attention today. Research is underway in many schools of alternative medicine to cope with modern maladies.

Ayurveda :

The science of life, the origin of most forms of natural and alternative medicine - has its mention in one of the oldest (about 6,000 years) philosophical texts of the world, the Rig Veda. The
Sutrasthana of Charaka Samhita, a much referred ayurvedic text, says; "The three-body, mind and soul - are like a tripod, the world stand by their combination; in them everything abides. It is the subject matter of Ayurveda for which the teachings of Ayurveda have been revealed." (1.46-47)

In its broader scope, Ayurveda in India has always sought to prepare mankind for the realization of the full potential of its self through a psychosomatic integration. A comprehensive health care is
what this natural and alternative medicine prescribes for the ultimate self-realization.

"Life (ayu) is the combination (samyoga) of body, senses, mind and reincarnating soul. Ayurveda is the most sacred science of life, beneficial to humans both in this world and the world beyond."
Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana, 1.42-43.-