The Kerala government has decided to upgrade the 90-year old Vaidyaratnam P S Varier (VPSV) Ayurveda College at Kottakkal as a 'centre of excellence' soon. The state government has already allocated the college a grant of Rs 1 crore for modernization. The college will introduce three more PG courses from the next academic year.

Kerala Health Minister P K Srimathi has said, that the state government has already completed all the necessary formalities in this regard and is waiting for the final nod from the Central Council of Indigenous Medicine (CCIM) and the Department of Ayush.

A paramedical institute is also likely to be set up soon under the aegis of the institution. The Health Minister had also recently announced in the Assembly about giving all possible support to VPSV Ayurveda College in order to upgrade it as a Centre of Excellence for ayurveda education.

The VPSV College is rated as one of the top colleges in the state, in terms of academic performance. There are 13 ayurveda colleges in the state. PV Joseph, executive director and prof. S. Vijayakumari, principal of the college expressed hope that with the support of the state government, the VPSV Ayurveda College will become one of the best educational institutions in the country.

Vaidyaratnam PS Varier, the founder of the famous Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, established the Kottakkal College in 1917. Initially, the college was started in Calicut and in 1924 it was shifted to Kottakkal where he established a charitable hospital to provide clinical support to the students.

Though he did the funding, the academic control was vested with a council called Arya Vaidya Samajam that comprised learned scholars of the time. It was the former President of India VV Giri who mooted the idea to upgrade the college, in the early 70's when he had come and stayed at AVS for treatment.

Though the college is now affiliated to Calicut University, Arya Vaidya Sala continues to provide the necessary financial support. A governing body under the chairmanship of state Health Minister and an executive committee with state health secretary as its chairman are responsible for the management of the college. Representatives of central and state governments as well as Dr PK Warrier, the managing trustee of AVS and his senior colleagues are members of these bodies.

Apart from the five-year Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course, the college offers two PG courses. The students are given hand-on training in the preparation of classical medicaments as well as in the panchakarma therapeutic procedures.

PG students undertake research work in clinical and related areas. The PG course in Manasikasastra (psychiatry) is particularly famous because of the Government Ayurveda Mental Hospital of Kottakkal, which is the only one of its kind in the country.