Ljubljana, May 7 (IANS): In yet another boost to the increasing popularity of the Indian alternative medicinal system, the tiny Central European republic of Slovenia got its fourth ayurveda centre in the picturesque town of Bled.
The inaugural ceremony Tuesday included a Bhartnatyam recital by two Slovenian dancers who performed a Thillana, Pushpanjali and Ganesha Vandana in natural surroundings overlooking Lake Bled. The ceremony was attended by dignitaries of Slovenia, India's Ambassador to Slovenia, Sarvajit Chakravarti, and a number of other international guests, according to an Indian embassy statement.
Following the recital, those attending the event were given a guided tour of the new ayurveda treatment facility.
Overlooking the beautiful Lake Bled that is surrounded by the snow-clad Alps, including Slovenia's national peak Triglav, the ayurveda centre is a collaborative enterprise of Ayur Ashram of Dharwad in the south Indian state of Karnataka and the Kompas Hotel in Bled.
India's Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) has provided information support to the centre.
Treatment will be provided under the supervision of Indian-origin Slovenian Vaidya Samo Safic Gupta, president of the ayurveda section of the Association of Integrative Medicine of Slovenia, which promotes the use of traditional medicine and alternative therapies.
Ayurveda and yoga are highly respected and widely popular in this Balkan nation of two million people. Slovenia already had three ayurveda centres staffed by qualified Indian ayurvedic practitioners and therapists at capital Ljubljana, Portoroz and Lasko.
The University of Primorska at Koper organised a World Congress of Ayurveda in 2009 and is now working on creating a chair of AYUSH with support from the Slovenian government and AYUSH in India.
Many Ayurvedic texts have been translated into Slovenian. Ayurvedic herbal products are quite easily available here.
The launch of an ayurveda centre in Bled, which annually hosts the Bled Strategic Forum and has initiated the Bled Film Festival, is expected to boost awareness of ayurveda and its efficacy more widely across the world, as the little town hosts dignitaries and travellers from over a hundred nations every year.
Indian dignitaries have frequently participated in the annual Bled Strategic Forum, a platform for high-level strategic dialogue among leaders from the private and public sectors on key issues facing Europe and the world in the 21st century.
Former Indian prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi visited Bled several times.