Balaji Tambe

Balaji Tambe was an Ayurveda physician, author and teacher who spent four decades writing and broadcasting about Ayurveda, yoga and meditation. He was named for the Padma Shri posthumously in 2022 in the field of medicine, from Maharashtra ^[1].

Engineer and vaidya

Tambe was born in Baroda on 28 June 1940, the son of the Vedic scholar Vasudeo Tambe Shastri ^[2]. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 1960 and the Ayurveda Vaidya Visharad qualification in 1964, and began practising Ayurveda in Pune alongside his engineering career ^[2].

Building institutions

In 1982 he founded Atmasantulana Village at Karla, near Pune, a large residential centre for Ayurvedic and panchakarma care ^[2]. In 1985 he set up Santulan Ayurveda to make Ayurvedic formulations, several of them exported to Europe, and in 1995 he founded the Aum-Kurzentrum in Gleichen, Germany, described in his citation as Europe’s first Ayurveda and panchakarma centre ^[2]. His book and music album on garbhasanskar, Ayurvedic guidance for expectant mothers, each sold more than a million copies ^[2].

The Family Doctor

For more than 18 years he wrote a weekly health supplement for the Marathi newspaper Sakal, more than 3,400 articles in plain language, which earned him the name “Family Doctor” in Maharashtra ^[2]. He also hosted a television programme of the same name and wrote more than 60 books and 50 music albums on health and spirituality ^[2]. He travelled widely, especially in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, to talk about Indian knowledge traditions ^[2]. He received an honorary DLitt from Dr D. Y. Patil University in 2017 ^[2].