Ayush institutions across India observed the 11th Ayurveda Day 2026 with public awareness programmes, community outreach, academic sessions, wellness activities and student engagement held between September 9 and 23. The reported activities covered health camps, yoga sessions, medicinal plant drives, exhibitions, competitions, webinars and lectures under the theme “Ayurveda for a Healthier Tomorrow”.
Outreach and public engagement
The Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI), Jhansi, conducted pledge and yoga camps, educational visits, cleanliness and medicinal plant drives, a “Run for Ayurveda”, webinars and public awareness programmes. Painting, rangoli and quiz competitions involved students, youth, staff and members of the public.
In Mumbai, the R.R.A. Podar Central Ayurveda Research Institute organised a webinar on research innovation, patenting and entrepreneurship in Ayurveda, wellness programmes for CISF personnel and an Ayurveda Walkathon at Kharghar. More than 200 people participated in the walkathon, while the institute also held an Ayurveda food competition, school activities, an Ayush Food Festival, cleanliness work and the distribution of more than 100 medicinal plant saplings. Its celebrations concluded on September 23.
The Regional Ayurveda Research Institute (RARI), Itanagar, distributed 134 medicinal plant saplings, conducted awareness lectures and organised a health camp, essay competition, herbal garden initiative, webinar, plant exhibition and cleanliness drive. The North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy, Shillong, reported free health camps, plantation activities, yoga sessions, academic lectures, competitions, an Open Day, a radio talk and a medicinal plant awareness campaign.
Academic and institutional programmes
RARI Gangtok held Ayurveda Day activities at ICAR, Tadong, with researchers, healthcare professionals and scholars associated with Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Sowa-Rigpa and other traditional systems. Technical sessions addressed Ayurveda’s role in health and well-being and its relevance to contemporary healthcare needs.
At the Ayurveda Treatment Centre at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, an academic lecture on alternative systems of medicine in India was delivered on September 23 to 164 first-year MBBS students and faculty members of VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital. The session covered Ayurveda’s fundamental principles and therapeutic approaches, the Ministry of Ayush and its initiatives, and research in Ayurveda.
CARI Kolkata held medicinal plant and raw drug exhibitions, yoga demonstrations, medical camps, an Ayush Food Festival, public information activities and a webinar on geriatric healthcare through Ayurveda. RARI Ahmedabad and RARI Gwalior conducted lectures on healthy lifestyles, diet, disease prevention and Ayurveda’s relationship with scientific research and evidence-based healthcare.
Plantation and awareness activities
The National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune, organised a plantation drive at its Nisarg Gram campus. Faculty members and experts planted medicinal species including Bilva, Shatavari, Arjuna, Guduchi and Ghrita Kumari, also known as Aloe vera.
Across the participating institutions, the programme combined public education with cultural and community activities, including Dhanvantari Puja, exhibitions, quizzes, poster-making, elocution, cooking and drawing competitions. These activities were primarily awareness and engagement programmes and do not, by themselves, establish the clinical effectiveness of any treatment.
Why it matters
The observance illustrates the breadth of activities being used by Ayush institutions to introduce Ayurveda to students, public-sector staff, healthcare learners and local communities. It also places medicinal plant awareness, healthy lifestyles, academic exchange and research communication within a single national outreach programme.