Punarvasu Atreya founded the first Ayurvedic medical school in about 800 BC. He and his pupils recorded medical knowledge in treatises that would in turn influence Charaka, a scholar who lived and taught around 700 BC. His writings, the Charaka Samhita, describe 1,500 plants, identifying 350 as valuable medicines. This major work was the Suzutan Samhita, written a century later, which forms the basis of modern surgery and is still consulted today.

Ayurveda is a unique holistic system, based on the interaction of body, mind and spirit. In Ayurveda, the origin of all aspects of existence is pure intellect or consciousness. Energy and matter are one. Energy is manifested in five elements-ether, air, fire, water and earth-which together form the basis of all matter.

Ayurveda has focused on the various aspects of herbs and their uses in our day-to-day life. Specific emphasis is given on the preparation and storage of herbs followed since ancient time. 

There are three different categories of herbs: mild, strong and toxic. Herbalists mainly use mild herbs because they have nutritive, energetic and therapeutic values without causing reactions or toxic effects.

The herbs contain certain flavours  that are caused by specific biochemical agents. Sweet indicates there is sugar in the herb, sour indicates the presence of an acid, bitter means it possibly contains an alkaloid, and salty indicates sodium or mineral salts are present.

Herbs are applied to treat diseases solely according to their therapeutic properties and chemical constituents. Treatment include washes and enemas or the application of poultices as well as massage with warm herbal oil, burning incense, the use of precious stones and metals, and ritual purification for imbalanced mind and emotions.

Traditional cultures throughout the world apply herbs according to their energetic effects on the body. Today, Ayurveda flourishes side by side with Unani Tibb and Western conventional medicine and is actively encouraged by the Indian government as an inexpensive alternative to Western drugs.