By Shivashankara Rao

The beginning of institutionalized medical care among human beings can be traced to India.

The various Puranas and other religious texts mention the existence of Punyashaalas and Arogyashaalas in India much before 2000 years [of the so-called Christian era].

The establishment of such institutions was considered a meritorious service.

The religious texts which mention about hospitals are the Skaandapurana, the Nandipurana, Jnaatadharma kathangasutra of the Jains etc.

The various inscriptions of kings like Ashoka, the memoirs of Chinese travelers like Fa-hien, Hiuen-Tsang and others establish beyond doubt that ancient Indian had a clear idea about hospitals with most of their modern departments.

The Jain scripture, Kathangasutra states that there was a hospital in the 6th century BC. Fa-Hien (405-11AD) who travelled in India during Emperor Chandragupta Maurya has recorded his impressions of the great hospital of Pataliputra. Hiuen -Tsang (610-625 AD ) states that the Buddhist king Siladitya had constructed a number of hospitals where even food was served free to the poor patients.

Vincent Smith, the famous historian says that no such institutions were to be seen anywhere else in the world of those days. He speaks very highly about the people who were responsible for that and concludes that this might be because of the teaching, "compassion to all living creatures" for which Ashoka was responsible.

Shree Veera Choleswara temple is supposed to have been constructed by the Chola king Veera Rajendra Deva somewhere in the eleventh century. A reference to this is made in a temple inscription in the Chinglepet district of Madras state. There are many such inscriptions to show that hospitals were in existence in other parts also.

The wide variety of hospitals is also astonishing. They include the physician's shop, the surgeon's theater, the maternity home, the mental hospital, the sanitarium etc. One interesting thing is that there was the institution of the veterinary hospital in those bygone days also.

Charak and Sushrut, the greatest Ayurvedic physicians of ancient India mention in their books the detailed requirements of the hospitals. Charak describes the planning that was being done by the architects to construct a hospital building.

Surgery in those days is unimaginable in the modern times. It is said that some strong hearted attendants would hold the patient and cut out the portion of the body that was affected. There was no anesthesia. But this was not considered as violence as there was always a good intention behind.

We are struck by the general rule in those hospitals according to which entry to them was reserved for poor people only. Rich people were denied admission as they could afford to get the treatment at their homes only.

Cleanliness was insisted upon. The prescription that only white clothes should be used in the hospitals for the bed spreads etc., indicate this. This practice is carried even to the present day as even now, the hospitals use only white garments for bedspreads.

There was absolutely no casteism in the hospitals. Every patient was equal there, whatever may be the caste differences.

It looks wonderful how the ancient Indians had progressed in the field of hospital construction and maintenance when we remember that the earliest hospital in Europe was opened during the seventh century only.