Nestled in the heart of Jaipur town, this nature cure facility is spread across a fairly large campus. It provides both residential or IPD (in-patient department) and OPD (out-patient department) facilities. Residential facilities comprise 32 standalone rooms and 2 general wards/dormitories which can all together house upto 60-70 people.

A 3 minute walk the entrance gate takes one to the treatment areas and yoga hall. The women’s section is a nice mix of open spaces and covered areas and can take upto 50 patients at any given time. I especially liked the open areas where all mud and sun treatments happened. The hydrotherapy treatments or water treatments were all in the covered spaces.

A separate men’s section is equally big and very similar in infrastructure to the women’s.

A new 3 floor building has just been constructed and will add a further 21 rooms and treatment areas to the already existing infrastructure.

May and June are peak months for treatments and can see a daily patient turnout of 150-200. There is a big scramble for mud baths during these months, I was told.

The facility had 3 doctors during the time of my stay (against a vacancy of 4) with specialisations in naturopathy, yoga and Ayurveda, each. Individually the doctors did seem competent, but could do with more coordination and discussion vis a vis a patient, the absence of which made patients choose amongst the doctors.

The treatment staff is another 20, equally split between the men’s and women’s section. Most of them are well trained and about half are old timers, the most tenured having worked there for over 20 years. Because this facility also conducts the Diploma in Naturopathy courses, a regular flow of interns is also visible in the treatment sections.

Most of the staff are good-natured and sincere, and take care of some demanding and very sick patients equally well. On days when there is a big rush, the staff can get the flow of treatments wrong, but mostly this gets pointed out by patients themselves or the supervisor. Dr Chitra Yadav, a trained naturopath herself, supervises the treatment section and is pleasant and helpful.

All basic naturopathy treatments are offered here: Mud packs and mud baths, massage, full wet pack and all local girdles or lappeds, green thermos, steam bath, hip bath, hand and foot bath, enema, hot and cold compresses, infrared light and poultice.

While there is adequate space and infrastructure to conduct all the treatments, hygiene and sanitation is an issue. The outdoor treatment areas, where all the mud and sun treatment happens are clean and airy, but the hydrotherapy and enema sections, is where hygiene becomes an issue especially because of such heavy patient load. The staff does try their best to clean the areas each day post treatment, but a lot more in terms of dedicated cleaning staff needs to be added.

For IPD, costs range from INR 500-1,000 per day for those in standalone rooms and between INR 200-300 in dormitory beds. These charges include the standard meals (1 juice, 1 herbal drink, 1 soup and two meals), yoga classes, and all naturopathic treatments (the only exception being a massage, which is an additional INR 200-320). Special meals such as extra fruits, nuts and some herbal drinks cost extra and are needed if prescribed by the doctor. The campus also houses an Ayurveda section, treatments of which are charged extra.

I spent 11 days as an IPD patient and paid a little less than INR 10,000. My additional costs were the juices and dry fruits I consumed.

If you come in as an OPD patient then the treatment charges are INR 150 per day, excluding food. Charges will be higher for the new section, which was still non-functional during my stay.

The morning bell rings at 5 am, to ensure that everyone drinks some water and picks up their herbal drink (which was always hot meethi/fenugreek water) and sprouts from the kitchen before 5:45 am. The morning yoga session is from 5:45 to 7 am. The early morning atmosphere was incredible with the beautiful night sky above and the fresh morning breeze nudging you to breathe deeply. After grabbing your morning juice after yoga, you head to the treatment section which is open from 7:30 am – 12 noon.

11:30 am – 12:30 pm is lunch, which is based on the doctor’s prescription. This is followed by a rest period 12 noon – 2:30 pm. 2:30 pm-5 pm, one gets back for treatment. Soup is served between 4 pm and 5 pm, followed by an hour long evening yoga session from 5:15 pm – 6:15 pm. Dinner is between 7 pm and 8 pm and it’s lights out by 10 pm!

University Marg, Bapu Nagar, Jaipur, Rajasthan

Phone: 0141 271 0590

Website: http://www.prakratikchikitsalaya.com

Treatment & Consultation Timings

IPD Patients:  7:30 am-12 noon & 2:30-5 pm

OPD Patients:     7:30 am-12 noon