Ayurveda, which literally means the science of life (Ayur = Life, Veda = Science), ayurveda is an ancient medical science which was developed in India thousands of years ago. Believed to have been passed on to humans from the Gods themselves, Ayurveda developed and evolved into what it is today from several ancient treatises, most notably Adharva Veda which dates back to five thousand years. The ancient Vedic literature by sages has clearly laid out instructions to maintain health as well as fighting illness through therapies, massages, herbal medicines, diet control and exercise.

Kerala owns a non detachable tradition of Ayurveda that has surpassed the many attacks and intrusions both in land and foreign. For about many centuries the Ayurveda Vaidyas (traditional practitioners of Ayurveda) were almost the only opening for people needs curing from every kind of ailments in Kerala. The mastery over the legacy of eight families of Vaidyas (Ashta vaidyas) and their followers treated the whole state for hundreds of years. Likes the other Indian states, the position of Ayurveda in Kerala is not substitution but mainstream. As a matter of fact, today Kerala is the only State in India which practices this rishi medicinal science with utmost commitment.