Manoranjan Sahu

Manoranjan Sahu is a former dean of the Faculty of Ayurveda at Banaras Hindu University and a specialist in Shalya Tantra, the surgical branch of Ayurveda. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of medicine, from Uttar Pradesh ^[1].

Training

Sahu was born on 2 March 1953 in Midnapore district, West Bengal ^[2]. He graduated from J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic College, Calcutta, in 1977 and took his MD in Ayurveda and his PhD at BHU in 1982 and 1986 ^[2].

A career at BHU

He began as a lecturer at the Institute of Medicine in Kathmandu and at the State Ayurvedic College, Varanasi, and joined BHU’s department of Shalya Tantra in 1993 ^[2]. There he became reader, professor and head of department, ran the Ayurveda wing of Sir Sunder Lal Hospital and rose to dean of the faculty before retiring in 2018 ^[2].

His special field is the treatment of anorectal conditions, such as anal fistula, with ksharasutra, a medicated thread used in Ayurvedic surgery; he has also worked on wound care with Ayurvedic preparations ^[2]. In 2013 he set up a national resource centre on ksharasutra therapy at BHU for training and research ^[2].

National roles

In 2010 the government appointed him founding director of the All India Institute of Ayurveda in New Delhi ^[2]. He has guided more than 80 research scholars, published more than 45 research papers, given lectures and demonstrations abroad, and in 2015 was the Indian coordinator for India–China cooperation in traditional medicine ^[2]. His honours include the Vaidyaraj Haribhau Paranjape Award in 2016 and the Sushruta Award in 2019 ^[2].