Ayurveda, the Ancient Science of life, immortalized in the form of elegant Sanskrit stanzas in the Samhitas describing diagnosis and therapy of diseases as well as ways to maintain positive health. Earlier to this the knowledge transfer was done through oral tradition and probably due to the decline in knowledge and memory status of human being the tradition of documentation started. The early documentation were in the form of hand written palm leaf manuscripts, special plant products such as bark (Bhoorja patra), cloth etc. which continued till the invention of paper. In early nineteen century only few of these Ayurvedic manuscripts were brought out in printed form on paper. Since then many books were published by different publishers throughout India in different regional languages including Hindi and few in English too, which includes the different branches of Ayurveda.

               During the last decade of 20th Century, books in foreign languages too started entering the market which further increased the demand of books from India. The technological developments have also influenced Ayurvedic and allied health literatures and the CD form of texts are now becoming popular. The electronic media is doing a great job of popularizing the science to a major extent in the present era. There are many good old books and compilations with lot of precious information regarding health science, but the availability of the same are not known to many.  In this era of globalization of Ayurveda and due to increased popularity and acceptance of this natural health science world over, lots of queries are being received regarding the availability of Ayurvedic books and publications in India, unfortunately no such database is available till date. Looking to this growing demand among the stake holders of Ayurveda i.e. students, teachers, physicians, drug cultivators, vendors, pharmacist and the beneficiary patients all over the world, the need is felt to fill up their demand in the form of  DATABASE of Ayurvedic books and publications. Till now there is no such centralized database available which could answer the queries of National & International stake holders on the books or publications written on different branches of Ayurveda.

            Looking into this exigency of a unified source of database on books and publications on Ayurveda, a project was initiated by this institute [IPGT&RA] in collaboration with WHO. Institute for Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, a constituent institute of Gujarat Ayurved University, is the oldest and premier research institute of Ayurveda in India, conducting Post graduate education and Doctorial research work on Ayurveda. The Institute was established in the year 1952 by Govt. of India and has passed many a milestones of teaching & research in Ayurveda and has some worthy publications to its credit. The institute is having more than thirty thousand publications related to Ayurveda and allied sciences in its library along with more than 7000 manuscripts. The Principal Investigator of this project is a veteran in the field of Ayurvedic teaching and research, who is a senior Professors of the institute, and has published a database on researches carried out in different postgraduate institutes in India entitled ‘Researches in Ayurveda’; this was the first step in this regard.
In the current DATABASE ‘INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF AYURVEDIC PUBLICATIONS’ more than 4400 entries covering over 19 different subjects have been made which includes publications within and outside India, and in all languages (Hindi, English, regional languages, foreign languages such as French etc.). Effort has also been made to include publications from individual authors and also from small frame publication units which are proven to be useful for knowledge seekers. A list of publishers along with their contact details, phone number and email ID (where ever possible) too is given in this DATABASE, so that the reader can approach the publisher in times of need.

                    In the present DATABASE, the details of each book entered, is given in a particular order viz. Title of the Book, Name of Author, Total number of Pages, price in India/Foreign currency, edition, Subject,  Year of publication, ISBN number, address of publishers and the subject content.
DATABASE of this nature is a continuous process which needs updating in regular intervals. Suggestions and remarks are welcome along with DATA for new entry which will be done during updating the DATABASE. All the concerned are requested to help in the noble cause and submit the information on their and others publications not covered in this data base in prescribed format.

Acknowledgements:

The project team would like to keep on record the generous help received and convey our gratitude to all the following in initiation of the work and all help received during the course of preparation of this DATABASE:

1. WHO - Administrative Officer & Staff, WHO Country Office for India, New Delhi
2. Dr. D. C. Katoch, National Consultant (Traditional Medicine & Homeopathy), WHO Country Office for India, New Delhi
3. Prof. M. S. Baghel, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor (I/c) of Gujarat Ayurved University & Director, IPGT&RA, Jamnagar, Gujarat State, India
4. Prof. S.S. Savrikar- Mumbai, Prof. R. R. Dwivedi- Jamnagar, Prof. H. M. Chandola- Jamnagar, Prof. S. H. Acharya- Jamnagar, Prof. Dilip Gadgil- Pune and  Dr. Pawankumar Godatwar – Jaipur; the Hon’ble Members of Review Committee
5. All Heads of Departments, Faculty members & staff of IPGT&RA, Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar
6. Librarian & Staff of University Library, Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar
7. All Publishers & Authors who have readily contributed to this work
8. Principal & Staff of all Ayurveda colleges of India who have contributed to this work
9. National Library of India (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai & Calcutta)
10. Library of International Centre for Ayurvedic Studies, Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar
11. Staff of Administrative & Accounts Departments of IPGT&RA, Jamnagar

Finally the project team would like to acknowledge the altruistic help and services received from all individuals and from all corners for the successful completion of this task.

Dr. V. K. Kori
Co-investigator
Project Team of International Catalogue of Ayurvedic Publications