Dhanvantari ()
During his incarnation on earth, he reigned as the King of Kashi, today locally referred to as Varanasi. Dhanvantari is also identified as the great-grandfather of Divodasa, the King of Kashi mentioned in the Vishnu Purana who is known as the father of surgery in Ayurveda.
Iconography
According to the ancient
Sanskrit work
Vishnudharamottara, Dhanvantari is a handsome individual and is to usually be depicted with
Chaturbhuja, with one or two of them carrying a bowl of
amrita, the elixir of immortality.
Dhanvantari is depicted in a stark resemblance to Vishnu, with four hands, holding the
shankha,
chakra, jalauka (herb), and a pot containing amrita. He is often shown with a leech in his hand rather than the scriptures, symbolism for the historical practice of
bloodletting.
Some texts describe him as holding a conch, amrita, medicinal herbs, and a book of Ayurveda.
Legend
Origin
The Balakanda of the
Ramayana and
Bhagavata Purana state that Dhanvantari emerged from the Ocean of Milk and appeared with the pot of
amrita (elixir of immortality) during the
Samudra manthan, whilst the ocean was being churned by the devas and the
, using the
Mount Mandara mountain and the serpent
Vasuki. The pot of amrita was snatched by the asuras, and after this event, Vishnu's avatar,
Mohini, appears and takes the nectar back from the asuras. It is also believed that Dhanvantari promulgated the practice of Ayurveda.
[Madhavan 2007, p. 107] Of special mention here is the treatise of
Dhanvantari-Nighantu, which completely elucidates Dhanvantari's medicinal plants.
[[1][2][3][4][5] Dhanvantari-Nighantu]
The Brahmanda Purana describes the origin of the physician deity:
Incarnation
During the second Dvapara Yuga, the King of Kashi, Dirghatapas, propitiated the physician deity for the birth of a son. The deity agreed to incarnate himself as the desired child as a boon. Dhanavantri proved to be a great king, and is described as the "dispeller of all ailments". He is described to have been exempt from infirmities and recognised as a "master of universal knowledge".
The sage
Bharadvaja educated him regarding the therapeutic practice of Ayurveda, and further caused him to study medicine. The king created a classification of his knowledge of medicine into eight fields and disseminated it to a number of diverse disciples.
Dhanvantari and Manasa
According to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Dhanvantari, accompanied by his disciples, once journeyed to
Mount Kailash. On the way, a naga named
Takshaka emitted a venom-spitting hiss. A disciple plucked the diamond upon the head of Takshaka and hurled it towards the earth. Upon learning these events, the powerful serpent-king
Vasuki amassed thousands of serpents under the leadership of Drona, Pundarika, and Dhananjaya against the entourage. The poisonous emissions of all these serpents united to make the disciples of Dhanvantari faint. Immediately, Dhanvantari concocted a medicine made from
vanaspati, allowing his followers to recover and causing the snakes to faint in turn. When Vasuki understood what had transpired, he sent a
Shaivism serpent goddess,
Manasa, to face Dhanvantari. Manasa sent the disciples of Dhanvantari into a swoon, but since the deity was proficient in the art of
Vishvavidya, he soon restored his disciples to consciousness. When Manasa deemed it impossible to defeat Dhanvantari or his disciples, she held the
trishula given to her by Shiva and aimed it at Dhanvantari. Seeing this,
Shiva and
Brahma appeared before them and restored the peace, sending them all on their way.
Temples
India
In Maharashtra
In Konkan, there is a Dhanvantari temple at Dapoli, District Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. It belongs to Dongare family and is owned and run by Vaidya Aniruddha Dongare. Many devotees from Konkan and rest of Maharashtra visit the temple and offer their prayers.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry
There are a few dedicated temples to Dhanvantari in South India especially in
Kerala and
Tamil Nadu, where ayurveda is highly practised and patronised. The Thottuva Dhanwanthari temple in Kerala is a particularly famous temple, where Lord Dhanvantari's idol is almost six feet tall and facing east. On the right hand the lord holds amrita and with the left hand the lord holds Atta, Shanku and Chakra. The 'Ekadasi' day celebration, which falls on the same day as the 'Guruvayur Ekadasi' is of special significance.
In Tamil Nadu, in the courtyard of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple (Srirangam), there is a Dhanvantari shrine where daily worship of the deity is performed. In front of this temple there is an engraved stone believed to be from the 12th century. According to the writings on the stone, Garuda Vahana Bhattar, a great ayurvedic physician, established the statue inside the temple. A prasada or theertham, a herbal decoction, is given to the visitors. The shrine is the oldest Dhanvantari shrine in the state.[Madhavan 2007, p. 108] Another Dhanvantari shrine is found in the second precinct of Varadaraja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram.[Madhavan 2007, p. 110]
In the Siddhar tradition of Tamil Nadu, Dhanvantari is one of the 18 esteemed of yore. The Vaitheeswaran Koil or Pullirukuvelur in the village of Vaitheeswarankoil, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu is home to his Jiva Samadhi.
Dhanvanthari temples in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry include:
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Nelluvai Dhanwantari Temple, Wadakkanchery, Thrissur, Kerala
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Sri Danvantri Arogya Peedam, Walajapet, Vellore District, Tamil Nadu
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Thevalakkadu Sree Dhanwanthari Temple, Kulasekharamangalam Post, Vaikom, Kottayam, Kerala
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Aanakkal Dhanwanthari Temple, Thaniyathukunnu, Thrissur
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Sree Dhanwanthari Temple, Keeramkulangara, Thrissur
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Sree Dhanwanthari Temple, Ramanathapuram, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
[http://temples.avpayurveda.com ]
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Sree Dhanwanthari Temple, Maruthorvattom, Cherthala, Kerala
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Sree Dhanwanthari Temple, Prayikara, Mavelikara, Alleppey, Kerala
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Sree Dhanwanthari Temple Elanthoor, Pathanamthitta, Kerala
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Sree Dhanwanthari Temple Kanakkoor, Alappuzha, Kerala
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Sree Dhanwanthari Temple Poothakulam, Kollam, Kerala
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Shri Dhanwantari Temple, Gopabandhu Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya Campus, Puri, Odisha
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Sri Dhanvantri Swamy Sannidhi within the Sanjeevi Vinayakar Temple, JIPMER campus
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Shri Aalkkalmanna Dhanwanthari Temple is situated at Eranthod Village, Angadippuram Panchayat, Perintalmanna Taluk of Malappuram District.
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There is also Sri Murrari Dhanvantri Moorthi Kshetram temple in kollam district (boothakulam) paravur. It belongs to a family called Thundvilla, it is owned and run by the family members itself. People offer prayer for there beloved ones and offer paalpayasam to god.
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Shri Dhanvantari Temple, Palluruthy, Kochi, Kerala is a small temple managed by Gowda Saraswath Brahmin Community.
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Shri Mahavishnu Dhanwanthari Temple, Karumom, Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala is a small temple managed by Travancore Desawom Board
Others
In Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh state, one statue of Dhanvantari is present in the university museum. Two statues are at the headquarters of the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha at
New Delhi. There is another statue inside the Ayurveda Maha Sammelan office, Dhanawantari Bhawan at New Delhi and one statue of Dhanvantari is present at Mohyal Ashram in
Haridwar.
Nepal
There is a shikar style temple dedicated to the god in the Jaya Bageshwari neighbourhood of
Kathmandu. The temple is near the famous Pashupatinath temple.
Commemoration
Devotees pray to Dhanvantari to seek his blessings for sound health for themselves and others on
Dhanteras, two days before
Diwali.
It is also celebrated as National Ayurveda Day in India, which was first observed in 2016.
See also
Further reading
External links
