The Beacon of Classical Ayurveda

On 21 January 1926, in the quiet village of Chhapra in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, a son was born to Vaidyaraj Pandit Gajanand Sharma and Shrimati Kasturi Devi Sharma. They named him Shriram. From his earliest years he absorbed the living tradition of Ayurveda under his father’s guidance and the village teacher Shri Ghatsiramji.

In December 1943, at the age of seventeen, he left home for Mumbai to study under his guru. He worked as an assistant at Shrimati Krishnabai Ruia Oushadhalaya on Kalbadevi Road while pursuing formal training. The young vaidya grew into a master clinician, teacher, researcher, and institution-builder who carried classical Ayurveda into the modern age with unwavering integrity.

Prof. Vaidya Shriram Sharma became Chairperson of the Maharishi Ayurveda Prathisthan in New Delhi, Honorary Professor and Physician at the K.G.M.P. Ayurvedic College in Mumbai, President of the Central Council of Indian Medicine, Dean of Ayurvedic Medicine at the University of Mumbai, and the President’s nominee on the Faculty of Ayurveda at Banaras Hindu University. He treated patients with deep clinical acumen, trained generations of students, and upheld the ethical ideals of the Charaka Samhita—elevating both knowledge and character.

His service earned widespread recognition: the Best Physician Award, the Ayurveda Maharshi Puraskar, the Dhanwantari Award and Gold Medal presented by the Governor of Maharashtra, and many others. On 5 April 2007, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam conferred the Padma Bhushan upon him at Rashtrapati Bhavan for distinguished service of a high order in Ayurveda.

Vaidya Shriram Sharma passed away in 2008. Yet the clinics he strengthened, the students he shaped, and the patients he healed continue to carry forward his quiet conviction that true medicine heals the body while elevating the spirit. In the living tradition of Ayurveda, his name remains a beacon of knowledge, humility, and selfless care.