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Jamini Bhushan Ray

2026-09-25T00:38:01Z

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{{Short description|Indian physician}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jamini Bhushan Ray
| native_name = যামিনী ভূষণ রায়
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray.png
| image_upright = 1.15
| alt = Portrait of Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray
| caption = Portrait of Ray
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|7|1}}
| birth_place = [[Khulna]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1926|8|11|1879|7|1}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| occupation = Ayurvedic physician Medical educator Sanskrit scholar
| education = [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]] [[Calcutta Medical College]]
| known_for = Founding the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] Modernising Ayurvedic education in Bengal
| spouse = Saroj Bala Devi
| children = 6
| website = {{URL|https://jbray.org}}
}}

'''Jamini Bhushan Ray''' ({{langx|bn|যামিনী ভূষণ রায়}}; 1 July 1879 (17 [[Asharh]] 1286 [[Bengali calendar|BS]]) – 11 August 1926 (26 [[Srabon]] 1333 [[Bengali calendar|BS]])) was an Indian Ayurvedic physician, Sanskrit scholar, educator, and philanthropist.<ref name="Samsad">{{Cite book
|editor=Subodh Chandra Sengupta
|title=সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান
|trans-title=Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan
|edition=Revised 3rd
|publisher=Sahitya Samsad
|language=bn
|chapter=যামিনীভূষণ রায়
|date=1976
|pages=429–430
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.458268/page/428/mode/2up
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref> He founded the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] in 1916 and established the Vaidyaraj Pharmacy, both of which formed part of his efforts to modernise Ayurvedic education and pharmaceutical practice during the late [[British Raj|colonial period]]. Contemporary scholarship identifies him as an important figure in the revival of Ayurveda in Bengal through the development of educational institutions, pharmaceutical enterprises and professional organisations.<ref name="JRAS2024">{{cite journal
|last1=Bhushan
|first1=Shakti
|last2=Saha
|first2=Suparna
|last3=Panja
|first3=Asit Kumar
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Roy: The man who led the Ayurveda renaissance in Bengal
|journal=Journal of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|year=2024
|volume=8
|issue=Suppl 1
|pages=S43–S47
|doi=10.4103/jras.jras_364_23
|doi-access=free
|url=https://www.ovid.com/jnls/jras/fulltext/10.4103/jras.jras_364_23~kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy-the-man-who-led-the-ayurveda
}}</ref>

Trained in both Sanskrit scholarship and Western medicine, Ray advocated the systematic study of Ayurveda and promoted formal education, clinical training and scholarly publication alongside its classical traditions.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

== Early life and education ==

Ray was born in Poyogram village in the [[Khulna District]] of the [[Bengal Presidency]], then part of [[British India]] (now [[Bangladesh]]). He was the son of the Ayurvedic physician Panchanan Ray, who was known by the honorific title ''Kavichintamani''.<ref name="Samsad" /> After receiving his early education in his native village, he moved to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] for higher studies and attended South Suburban School in [[Bhowanipore]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|pages=44–47
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="Prohor"/> While attending the school, he lived in a rented house in the neighbourhood.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray studied at [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]], where he earned a B.A. degree in [[Sanskrit]]. While pursuing an M.A. degree in Sanskrit and medical studies at [[Calcutta Medical College]], he continued to study Ayurveda under his father, Kaviraj Panchanan Ray.<ref name="Samsad"/><ref name="Prohor">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250814084305/https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-date=14 August 2025
|url-status=dead
|title=এশিয়ার প্রথম আয়ুর্বেদিক কলেজ কলকাতাতেই, বিস্মৃতপ্রায় প্রতিষ্ঠাতা যামিনীভূষণ
|website=Prohor
|language=bn
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray obtained an M.A. degree in Sanskrit, for which he received a medal.<ref name="Samsad"/> He graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.) degree in 1905 and was awarded a gold medal.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Prohor"/> Following graduation, he practised obstetrics and gynaecology before devoting himself entirely to Ayurveda.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/> Although he had opportunities to enter government medical service under the British administration, Ray declined them in favour of practising Ayurveda.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray completed his Ayurvedic training under Mahamahopadhyay Bijoy Ratna Sen and subsequently served as Kaviraj at the Bowbazar Marwari Hospital.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Vaidyaraj Pharmacy and standardisation of Ayurvedic medicine ==

Among Ray's institutional initiatives was the establishment of the '''Vaidyaraj Pharmacy'''.<ref name="JRAS2024" /><ref name="IndianEmbassyBern">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.indembassybern.gov.in/content/16030874512.pdf
|title=International Day of Yoga 2020
|publisher=Embassy of India, Bern
|date=2020
|page=11
|format=PDF
|access-date=17 July 2026
}}</ref> Located at 46 Beadon Street in Calcutta, the enterprise manufactured and distributed Ayurvedic medicines using systematic methods of preparation and quality control.<ref name="ChopraCommittee1948">{{Cite report
|title=Report of the Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine (Chopra Committee)
|volume=II
|publisher=Ministry of Health, Government of India
|year=1948
|page=180
|url=https://ia902900.us.archive.org/13/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.112421/2015.112421.Report-Of-The-Committee-On-Indigenous-Systems-Of-Medicine--Volii_text.pdf
|access-date=20 July 2026
}}</ref>

Such initiatives formed part of the broader institutionalisation and modernisation of Ayurveda during the colonial period. Through pharmaceutical production, standardisation of formulations and dissemination of Ayurvedic literature, Ray and other reformers sought to place Ayurveda within increasingly organised educational and clinical settings.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

Medicines produced by the pharmacy were also distributed free of charge to poor patients.<ref name="Prohor"/>

== Founder of Ashtanga Ayurveda College ==

[[File:Ashtanga Ayurveda Hospital, Raja Dinendra Street, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|right|alt=Historic three-storey hospital building at the Raja Dinendra Street campus in Kolkata|Historic view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]], Kolkata, in 1964.]]

In 1916, Ray founded the '''Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital''' in Calcutta.<ref name="JRAS2024" /> Initially established in a rented house at 29 Fariapukur Street in north Calcutta, the college admitted twelve students in its first intake.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Editorial1964">{{cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=bn
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref> Tuition, board and lodging were provided without charge.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Ray sought to place Ayurvedic education within an organised collegiate setting, with specialist instructors and systematic teaching. The curriculum provided instruction in all eight classical branches of Ayurveda (''Ashtanga''), together with practical clinical training through an attached teaching hospital.<ref name="Premananda1964">{{cite web
|title=Address by Kaviraj Premananda Kavyatirtha at Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda College Reunion
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Address_of_Kaviraj_Premananda_Kavyatirtha_at_Jamini_Bhushan_Ashtanga_Ayurveda_College_Reunion.pdf
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|publisher=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya 20th Reunion Committee of 1964
|date=15 May 1964
|access-date=11 July 2026
}}</ref> Ray served as the institution's first principal, with Biraja Charan Gupta as vice-principal.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

[[File:J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata.png|thumb|left|220px|alt=Present-day view of the courtyard of J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata|Present-day view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]], which evolved from the ''Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala'' founded by Jamini Bhushan Ray in 1916.]]

An outpatient dispensary was established alongside the college and soon treated about 100 patients daily.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> The institution also provided free medical treatment to poor patients, with Ray reportedly attending daily to treat them.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray introduced practical instruction in subjects including surgery, obstetrics, toxicology and medical jurisprudence alongside the classical Ayurvedic curriculum.<ref name="Premananda1964" />

The institution was subsequently registered as a public institution and placed under an executive committee; its first executive committee dates from 1919, with Krishna Das Bandyopadhyay serving as secretary.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

The institution later evolved into the '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]'''. A Bengali biographical dictionary records its historical name as ''Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala''.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Presidency of the All India Ayurvedic Conference ==

[[File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - opening panel - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916.png|thumb|left|220px|link=File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916 - restored reading edition.png|alt=Opening panel of a 1916 Behar Herald newspaper report on the Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference|Opening panel of the restored Behar Herald report on the 1915 Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference. Click to view the complete four-panel reading edition.]]

In 1915 Ray was elected president of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference held in [[Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]).<ref name="Conference1915">{{Cite book
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}</ref>

Contemporary commentary on Ray's presidential address described him as combining the medical traditions of East and West and praised his efforts to reconcile classical Ayurvedic learning with modern scientific medicine.<ref name="BeharHerald1916">{{Cite news
|title=The All-India Ayurvedic Conference
|newspaper=Behar Herald
|date=1 April 1916
|pages=1–2
|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Behar_Herald_01-04-1916.pdf
|access-date=26 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray emphasised collective rather than individual efforts for the advancement of Ayurveda. He presented the conference as evidence of a wider revival of interest in indigenous medicine and urged that Ayurveda be developed in a "truly scientific spirit".<ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

In his presidential address, Ray advocated preserving Ayurveda's classical foundations while strengthening scientific education, including the study of anatomy, dissection, surgery and clinical practice.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

{{clear}}

== Evidence before the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine ==

During the 1921–1923 inquiry of the Madras Presidency's Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine, Ray submitted written evidence and was interviewed in Calcutta by its touring subcommittee. The subcommittee also inspected the Ashtanga Ayurvedic College. The report identified Ray and [[Gananath Sen]] as practitioners proficient in both Ayurveda and Western medicine and drew on their evidence in its discussion of diagnosis and treatment.<ref name="UsmanCommittee">{{Cite report
|author=Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|title=Report of the Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|publisher=Government Press
|location=Madras
|year=1923
|url=https://archive.org/details/b32176946_0001
|access-date=21 July 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|pp=50–61, 99, 103}}

In his evidence, Ray attributed the decline of Ayurvedic surgery partly to the inaccessibility of Sanskrit medical texts and the scarcity of competent teachers, but maintained that the discipline could be revived through research and systematic investigation. He described Ayurvedic diagnosis as combining observation through the senses and patient interrogation with consideration of a patient's constitution, environment, season and the progression of disease.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|pp=2–3, 50–53, 59–61, 73–74}}

== Association with Mahatma Gandhi ==

[[File:Mahatma-Gandhi, studio, 1931.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Studio portrait of Mahatma Gandhi wearing a white shawl and round spectacles|[[Mahatma Gandhi]], who laid the foundation stone of the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital on 6 May 1925.]]

On 6 May 1925, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] laid the foundation stone of the new building of the Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya in Calcutta.<ref name="CWMG">{{cite book
|last=Gandhi
|first=M. K.
|author-link=Mahatma Gandhi
|chapter=Speech at Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya
|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi
|volume=27
|date=1968
|orig-date=6 May 1925
|publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India
|chapter-url=https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/cwmg_volume_thumbview/Mjc=#page/74/mode/2up
|via=Gandhi Heritage Portal
|access-date=15 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JRAS2024"/>

In his address, Gandhi called for greater humility, honesty and scientific inquiry among [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] and [[Unani medicine|Unani]] practitioners. He criticised exaggerated medical claims and objectionable advertising by practitioners of indigenous medicine, while describing the Vidyalaya itself as a "noble institution".<ref name="CWMG"/>

Scholar Shambhu Prasad places the address within Gandhi's broader attempt to reform Ayurveda from within, arguing that Gandhi sought greater honesty, humility and research among Ayurvedic practitioners rather than rejection of the tradition itself.<ref name="Prasad2001">{{cite journal
|last=Prasad
|first=Shambhu
|title=Towards an Understanding of Gandhi's Views on Science
|journal=Economic and Political Weekly
|volume=36
|issue=39
|date=29 September 2001
|pages=3721–3732
|jstor=4411167
}}</ref>

== Philanthropy ==

Ray provided substantial financial and property support to the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital. According to a biographical account by M. N. Pal published in the institution's 1964 commemorative volume, Ray contributed ₹70,000 towards the construction of its buildings.<ref name="Pal1964">{{cite book
|last=Pal
|first=M. N.
|chapter=A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach
|title=J.B. Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Ayurvediya Arogyasala Commemorative Booklet
|publisher=Jubilee Celebration Committee
|location=Calcutta
|year=1964
|pages=44–47
|chapter-url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|p=2}}

Before his death in August 1926, Ray also bequeathed property to the institution in his will. The bequests comprised thirteen cottahs of land at Ballygunge, six cottahs on Grey Street, twelve bighas at Patipukur together with his garden house there, and health recovery houses at Kurseong and Ranchi.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

The Patipukur property subsequently became the site of a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} A separate commemorative history records that [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Separately, ''Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' records that Ray donated ₹200,000 towards Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya on the day before his death.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Publications and scholarship ==

[[File:Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya by Jamini Bhushan Ray – title page (1920).png|thumb|right|alt=Title page of Jamini Bhushan Ray's 1920 medical book Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya|Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''), published in Calcutta in 1920.]]

Ray was a Sanskrit scholar and author whose medical writings covered diagnosis, diseases of the ear, nose and throat, paediatrics, obstetrics and toxicology.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

Ray was elected a Fellow of the [[University of Calcutta]], served as an examiner for [[Banaras Hindu University]] and other universities and educational boards, and was a member of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Royal Asiatic Society]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

The 1923 report of the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine listed five Sanskrit works by Ray among Ayurvedic texts then commonly used as textbooks: ''Roga Vinischayah'', ''Kumaratantram'', ''Vishatantram'', ''Prasutitantram'' and ''Shalakyatantram''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}

Among his published works were:

* ''Roga Vinischaya'' (diagnosis), published in an edition titled ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''). A profile published by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) describes the work as addressing gaps in classical descriptions of diseases that could present difficulties in their clinical application.<ref name="CCRASLuminary">{{Cite web
|url=https://luminaries.ccras.res.in/kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy/
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Ray
|website=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|publisher=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|access-date=22 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="RBU2023">{{Cite report
|title=University Research Programme (URP): Executive Summary 2022–2023
|publisher=Rabindra Bharati University
|year=2023
|pages=148–149
|url=https://www.rbu.ac.in/home/avz9s6ve0gq6/public_html/ckfinder/userfiles/files/URP%20Executive%20Summary%202022-2023.pdf
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/NimB_prati-sanskrita-roga-binischaya-by-jamini-bhushan-ray-calcutta-1920-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=Prati-Saṃskṛta Roga Vinischaya by Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray (Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College, 1920)
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref>
* ''Shalakyatantram'', on diseases of the ear, nose, throat and mouth.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Kumaratantram'', on children's diseases.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Prasutitantram'', on obstetrics.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Vishatantram'', on toxicology; an English-language work was published as ''A Manual of Toxicology''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/zwNL_a-manual-of-toxicology-by-kaviraj-jaimini-bhushan-ray-1920-calcutta-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=A Manual of Toxicology by Kaviraj Jaimini Bhushan Ray, 1920, Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The title page of Ray's 1920 ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' identifies the Ayurvedic Medical College at 29 Fariapukur Street as its publisher.<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prati_Sanskrita_Roga_Binischaya_by_Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_%E2%80%93_title_page_(1920).png
|title=Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya''
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|date=1920
|access-date=19 July 2026
}}</ref>

Ray also published a Bengali work titled ''Swastha Niti'' and was involved in publishing the Bengali monthly journal ''Ayurveda'', which disseminated information about Ayurveda and other medical subjects.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="CCRASLuminary"/> According to CCRAS, the journal was published under the editorial guidance of Kaviraj Srivirajcharan Gupta Kavibhushan, with Ray serving as co-editor.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== Influence beyond Bengal ==

The Ashtanga Ayurveda College attracted students from beyond Bengal. M. N. Pal's 1964 biographical account of Ray records that pupils came from different parts of India as well as Nepal and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to study at the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

Among the students associated with the college was the Sri Lankan Ayurvedic physician G. P. Wickramarachchi, who studied there during the early twentieth century.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> He later played a prominent role in the development of Ayurvedic education in Sri Lanka.<ref name="JRAS2024"/>

== Personal life ==

Ray was married to Saroj Bala Devi, with whom he had six children. According to the CCRAS biographical profile, two of his youngest sons died while still in their late teens.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

His surviving sons Bijoy Bhushan and Amar Bhushan later practised Ayurvedic medicine at the institution founded by their father. Amar Bhushan Ray subsequently served as superintendent of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital, which had been established on land bequeathed by his father.<ref name="Jubilee1964p42">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|page=42
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==

[[File:Photograph of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Portrait of physician and statesman Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy|[[Bidhan Chandra Roy|Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy]], who laid the foundation stone of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital on land bequeathed by Jamini Bhushan Ray.]]

Ray died in Calcutta on 11 August 1926 at the age of forty-seven.<ref name="Samsad"/>

Modern scholarship emphasises Ray's role in the institutional development of Ayurveda in Bengal through his educational and pharmaceutical initiatives.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> The institution he founded continues as the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]. CCRAS also includes Ray in its biographical series on luminaries of Ayurveda.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

[[File:Patipukur T.B. Hospital, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|left|alt=Historic hospital building at Patipukur in Kolkata in 1964|Historic view of Patipukur T.B. Hospital, later reorganised as Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital, in 1964.]]

Ray's bequest of twelve bighas of land at Patipukur, together with his garden house there, subsequently provided the site for a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> According to the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, it was initially established as a 60-bed facility.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

The hospital was later reorganised as '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital#Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital|Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital]]'''. The college's hospital profile describes it as a 94-bed facility associated with the J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.<ref name="JBRHospitalProfile">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbrsamch.org.in/Infrustrcture/177/
|title=Hospital Infrastructure
|publisher=J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital
|access-date=24 June 2026
}}</ref>

{{clear}}

== Recognition ==

[[File:Statue of Jamini Bhushan Ray at J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.png|thumb|right|alt=Marble bust of Jamini Bhushan Ray displayed at the J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Marble bust of Ayurvedic physician and medical educator Jamini Bhushan Ray at the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]] in Kolkata.]]

A street in Kolkata, '''Jamini Kaviraj Row''', was named in Ray's honour.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="JBRayRecognition">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbray.org/collections/recognition
|title=Memory and Recognition
|website=JBRay.org
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>

The [[Ministry of AYUSH]] commemorated Ray's birth anniversary through official social-media posts in 2021, 2022, 2025 and 2026.<ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2021">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1410457649242542084
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2021
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2022">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1542846878408396801
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2022
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2025">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/1939974273562820643
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2025
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2026">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/2072275834409554018
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2026
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) includes Ray in its ''Documentation of Life Profiles of Luminaries in the Field of Ayurveda'' initiative and hosts a biographical profile of him as part of its Luminaries of Ayurveda collection.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== See also ==

* [[Ayurveda]]
* [[Swadeshi movement]]
* [[Gananath Sen]]
* [[Vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier]]
* [[Hakim Ajmal Khan]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite report
|title=A Short Report on the Growth & Development of Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya & Ayurveda Aragyashala
|date=7 January 1953
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Majumdar
|first1=R. C.
|author-link1=R. C. Majumdar
|last2=Raychaudhuri
|first2=H. C.
|author-link2=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri
|last3=Datta
|first3=Kalikinkar
|title=An Advanced History of India
|publisher=Macmillan
|isbn=978-0-333-90298-1
}}

* {{Cite report
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part I
|date=October 1930
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part II
|date=May 1931
}}

* {{Cite book
|editor-last=Singh
|editor-first=P.
|title=Nikhil Bharatvarshiya Ayurveda Mahamandal ka Rajat Jayanti Granth
|volume=I
|location=Benares
|year=1935
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Palit
|first1=Chittabrata
|last2=Dutta
|first2=Achintya Kumar
|title=History of Medicine in India: The Medical Encounter
|isbn=978-81-7835-323-4
|page=228
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yz-zE8waQukC&pg=PA228
|url-access=limited
}}

== External links ==

* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf ''A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach''] by M. N. Pal (1964), biographical account
* [https://jbrsamch.org.in/ J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital], official website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20251007132215/https://getbengal.com/details/j-b-roy-the-forgotten-founder-of-asias-first-ayurvedic-college-in-calcutta ''Dr. J. B. Ray, the forgotten founder of Asia's first Ayurvedic College in Calcutta''] at ''Get Bengal'' (archived)
* [https://opiniontimes.in/doctors-day-yamini-bhusan-roy-ayurved-j-b-roy-state-ayurved-medical-college-and-hospital/ ''আয়ুর্বেদের জনক, অপ্রকাশিত যামিনী''] at ''Opinion Times'' {{in lang|bn}}
* [https://madhyom.com/kaviraj-jamini-bhushan-roy-an-eminent-ayurveda-scholar-and-philanthropist-founded-j-b-roy-state-ayurvedic-medical-college-and-hospital ''অ্যালোপ্যাথি ছেড়ে আয়ুর্বেদ! নতুন পথের দিশারী কবিরাজ যামিনীভূষণ রায়''] at ''Madhyom'' {{in lang|bn}}

{{Bengal Renaissance}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Jamini Bhushan}}

[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Ayurvedacharyas]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Sanskrit scholars from Bengal]]
[[Category:The Sanskrit College and University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian medical doctors]]

Jamini Bhushan Ray

2026-09-25T00:36:15Z

DocumentedPast: Removed the wiki-linking double brackets around Bachelor of Medicine

{{Short description|Indian physician}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jamini Bhushan Ray
| native_name = যামিনী ভূষণ রায়
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray.png
| image_upright = 1.15
| alt = Portrait of Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray
| caption = Portrait of Ray
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|7|1}}
| birth_place = [[Khulna]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1926|8|11|1879|7|1}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| occupation = Ayurvedic physician Medical educator Sanskrit scholar
| education = [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]] [[Calcutta Medical College]]
| known_for = Founding the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] Modernising Ayurvedic education in Bengal
| spouse = Saroj Bala Devi
| children = 6
| website = {{URL|https://jbray.org}}
}}

'''Jamini Bhushan Ray''' ({{langx|bn|যামিনী ভূষণ রায়}}; 1 July 1879 (17 [[Asharh]] 1286 [[Bengali calendar|BS]]) – 11 August 1926 (26 [[Srabon]] 1333 [[Bengali calendar|BS]])) was an Indian Ayurvedic physician, Sanskrit scholar, educator, and philanthropist.<ref name="Samsad">{{Cite book
|editor=Subodh Chandra Sengupta
|title=সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান
|trans-title=Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan
|edition=Revised 3rd
|publisher=Sahitya Samsad
|language=bn
|chapter=যামিনীভূষণ রায়
|date=1976
|pages=429–430
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.458268/page/428/mode/2up
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref> He founded the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] in 1916 and established the Vaidyaraj Pharmacy, both of which formed part of his efforts to modernise Ayurvedic education and pharmaceutical practice during the late [[British Raj|colonial period]]. Contemporary scholarship identifies him as an important figure in the revival of Ayurveda in Bengal through the development of educational institutions, pharmaceutical enterprises and professional organisations.<ref name="JRAS2024">{{cite journal
|last1=Bhushan
|first1=Shakti
|last2=Saha
|first2=Suparna
|last3=Panja
|first3=Asit Kumar
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Roy: The man who led the Ayurveda renaissance in Bengal
|journal=Journal of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|year=2024
|volume=8
|issue=Suppl 1
|pages=S43–S47
|doi=10.4103/jras.jras_364_23
|doi-access=free
|url=https://www.ovid.com/jnls/jras/fulltext/10.4103/jras.jras_364_23~kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy-the-man-who-led-the-ayurveda
}}</ref>

Trained in both Sanskrit scholarship and Western medicine, Ray advocated the systematic study of Ayurveda and promoted formal education, clinical training and scholarly publication alongside its classical traditions.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

== Early life and education ==

Ray was born in Poyogram village in the [[Khulna District]] of the [[Bengal Presidency]], then part of [[British India]] (now [[Bangladesh]]). He was the son of the Ayurvedic physician Panchanan Ray, who was known by the honorific title ''Kavichintamani''.<ref name="Samsad" /> After receiving his early education in his native village, he moved to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] for higher studies and attended South Suburban School in [[Bhowanipore]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|pages=44–47
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="Prohor"/> While attending the school, he lived in a rented house in the neighbourhood.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray studied at [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]], where he earned a B.A. degree in [[Sanskrit]]. While pursuing an M.A. degree in Sanskrit and medical studies at [[Calcutta Medical College]], he continued to study Ayurveda under his father, Kaviraj Panchanan Ray.<ref name="Samsad"/><ref name="Prohor">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250814084305/https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-date=14 August 2025
|url-status=dead
|title=এশিয়ার প্রথম আয়ুর্বেদিক কলেজ কলকাতাতেই, বিস্মৃতপ্রায় প্রতিষ্ঠাতা যামিনীভূষণ
|website=Prohor
|language=bn
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray obtained an M.A. degree in Sanskrit, for which he received a medal.<ref name="Samsad"/> He graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.) degree in 1905 and was awarded a gold medal.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Prohor"/> Following graduation, he practised obstetrics and gynaecology before devoting himself entirely to Ayurveda.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/> Although he had opportunities to enter government medical service under the British administration, Ray declined them in favour of practising Ayurveda.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray completed his Ayurvedic training under Mahamahopadhyay Bijoy Ratna Sen and subsequently served as Kaviraj at the Bowbazar Marwari Hospital.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Vaidyaraj Pharmacy and standardisation of Ayurvedic medicine ==

Among Ray's institutional initiatives was the establishment of the '''Vaidyaraj Pharmacy'''.<ref name="JRAS2024" /><ref name="IndianEmbassyBern">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.indembassybern.gov.in/content/16030874512.pdf
|title=International Day of Yoga 2020
|publisher=Embassy of India, Bern
|date=2020
|page=11
|format=PDF
|access-date=17 July 2026
}}</ref> Located at 46 Beadon Street in Calcutta, the enterprise manufactured and distributed Ayurvedic medicines using systematic methods of preparation and quality control.<ref name="ChopraCommittee1948">{{Cite report
|title=Report of the Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine (Chopra Committee)
|volume=II
|publisher=Ministry of Health, Government of India
|year=1948
|page=180
|url=https://ia902900.us.archive.org/13/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.112421/2015.112421.Report-Of-The-Committee-On-Indigenous-Systems-Of-Medicine--Volii_text.pdf
|access-date=20 July 2026
}}</ref>

Such initiatives formed part of the broader institutionalisation and modernisation of Ayurveda during the colonial period. Through pharmaceutical production, standardisation of formulations and dissemination of Ayurvedic literature, Ray and other reformers sought to place Ayurveda within increasingly organised educational and clinical settings.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

Medicines produced by the pharmacy were also distributed free of charge to poor patients.<ref name="Prohor"/>

== Founder of Ashtanga Ayurveda College ==

[[File:Ashtanga Ayurveda Hospital, Raja Dinendra Street, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|right|alt=Historic three-storey hospital building at the Raja Dinendra Street campus in Kolkata|Historic view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]], Kolkata, in 1964.]]

In 1916, Ray founded the '''Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital''' in Calcutta.<ref name="JRAS2024" /> Initially established in a rented house at 29 Fariapukur Street in north Calcutta, the college admitted twelve students in its first intake.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Editorial1964">{{cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=bn
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref> Tuition, board and lodging were provided without charge.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Ray sought to place Ayurvedic education within an organised collegiate setting, with specialist instructors and systematic teaching. The curriculum provided instruction in all eight classical branches of Ayurveda (''Ashtanga''), together with practical clinical training through an attached teaching hospital.<ref name="Premananda1964">{{cite web
|title=Address by Kaviraj Premananda Kavyatirtha at Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda College Reunion
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Address_of_Kaviraj_Premananda_Kavyatirtha_at_Jamini_Bhushan_Ashtanga_Ayurveda_College_Reunion.pdf
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|publisher=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya 20th Reunion Committee of 1964
|date=15 May 1964
|access-date=11 July 2026
}}</ref> Ray served as the institution's first principal, with Biraja Charan Gupta as vice-principal.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

[[File:J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata.png|thumb|left|220px|alt=Present-day view of the courtyard of J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata|Present-day view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]], which evolved from the ''Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala'' founded by Jamini Bhushan Ray in 1916.]]

An outpatient dispensary was established alongside the college and soon treated about 100 patients daily.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> The institution also provided free medical treatment to poor patients, with Ray reportedly attending daily to treat them.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray introduced practical instruction in subjects including surgery, obstetrics, toxicology and medical jurisprudence alongside the classical Ayurvedic curriculum.<ref name="Premananda1964" />

The institution was subsequently registered as a public institution and placed under an executive committee; its first executive committee dates from 1919, with Krishna Das Bandyopadhyay serving as secretary.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

The institution later evolved into the '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]'''. A Bengali biographical dictionary records its historical name as ''Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala''.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Presidency of the All India Ayurvedic Conference ==

[[File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - opening panel - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916.png|thumb|left|220px|link=File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916 - restored reading edition.png|alt=Opening panel of a 1916 Behar Herald newspaper report on the Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference|Opening panel of the restored Behar Herald report on the 1915 Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference. Click to view the complete four-panel reading edition.]]

In 1915 Ray was elected president of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference held in [[Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]).<ref name="Conference1915">{{Cite book
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}</ref>

Contemporary commentary on Ray's presidential address described him as combining the medical traditions of East and West and praised his efforts to reconcile classical Ayurvedic learning with modern scientific medicine.<ref name="BeharHerald1916">{{Cite news
|title=The All-India Ayurvedic Conference
|newspaper=Behar Herald
|date=1 April 1916
|pages=1–2
|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Behar_Herald_01-04-1916.pdf
|access-date=26 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray emphasised collective rather than individual efforts for the advancement of Ayurveda. He presented the conference as evidence of a wider revival of interest in indigenous medicine and urged that Ayurveda be developed in a "truly scientific spirit".<ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

In his presidential address, Ray advocated preserving Ayurveda's classical foundations while strengthening scientific education, including the study of anatomy, dissection, surgery and clinical practice.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

{{clear}}

== Evidence before the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine ==

During the 1921–1923 inquiry of the Madras Presidency's Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine, Ray submitted written evidence and was interviewed in Calcutta by its touring subcommittee. The subcommittee also inspected the Ashtanga Ayurvedic College. The report identified Ray and [[Gananath Sen]] as practitioners proficient in both Ayurveda and Western medicine and drew on their evidence in its discussion of diagnosis and treatment.<ref name="UsmanCommittee">{{Cite report
|author=Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|title=Report of the Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|publisher=Government Press
|location=Madras
|year=1923
|url=https://archive.org/details/b32176946_0001
|access-date=21 July 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|pp=50–61, 99, 103}}

In his evidence, Ray attributed the decline of Ayurvedic surgery partly to the inaccessibility of Sanskrit medical texts and the scarcity of competent teachers, but maintained that the discipline could be revived through research and systematic investigation. He described Ayurvedic diagnosis as combining observation through the senses and patient interrogation with consideration of a patient's constitution, environment, season and the progression of disease.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|pp=2–3, 50–53, 59–61, 73–74}}

== Association with Mahatma Gandhi ==

[[File:Mahatma-Gandhi, studio, 1931.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Studio portrait of Mahatma Gandhi wearing a white shawl and round spectacles|[[Mahatma Gandhi]], who laid the foundation stone of the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital on 6 May 1925.]]

On 6 May 1925, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] laid the foundation stone of the new building of the Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya in Calcutta.<ref name="CWMG">{{cite book
|last=Gandhi
|first=M. K.
|author-link=Mahatma Gandhi
|chapter=Speech at Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya
|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi
|volume=27
|date=1968
|orig-date=6 May 1925
|publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India
|chapter-url=https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/cwmg_volume_thumbview/Mjc=#page/74/mode/2up
|via=Gandhi Heritage Portal
|access-date=15 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JRAS2024"/>

In his address, Gandhi called for greater humility, honesty and scientific inquiry among [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] and [[Unani medicine|Unani]] practitioners. He criticised exaggerated medical claims and objectionable advertising by practitioners of indigenous medicine, while describing the Vidyalaya itself as a "noble institution".<ref name="CWMG"/>

Scholar Shambhu Prasad places the address within Gandhi's broader attempt to reform Ayurveda from within, arguing that Gandhi sought greater honesty, humility and research among Ayurvedic practitioners rather than rejection of the tradition itself.<ref name="Prasad2001">{{cite journal
|last=Prasad
|first=Shambhu
|title=Towards an Understanding of Gandhi's Views on Science
|journal=Economic and Political Weekly
|volume=36
|issue=39
|date=29 September 2001
|pages=3721–3732
|jstor=4411167
}}</ref>

== Philanthropy ==

Ray provided substantial financial and property support to the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital. According to a biographical account by M. N. Pal published in the institution's 1964 commemorative volume, Ray contributed ₹70,000 towards the construction of its buildings.<ref name="Pal1964">{{cite book
|last=Pal
|first=M. N.
|chapter=A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach
|title=J.B. Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Ayurvediya Arogyasala Commemorative Booklet
|publisher=Jubilee Celebration Committee
|location=Calcutta
|year=1964
|pages=44–47
|chapter-url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|p=2}}

Before his death in August 1926, Ray also bequeathed property to the institution in his will. The bequests comprised thirteen cottahs of land at Ballygunge, six cottahs on Grey Street, twelve bighas at Patipukur together with his garden house there, and health recovery houses at Kurseong and Ranchi.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

The Patipukur property subsequently became the site of a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} A separate commemorative history records that [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Separately, ''Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' records that Ray donated ₹200,000 towards Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya on the day before his death.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Publications and scholarship ==

[[File:Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya by Jamini Bhushan Ray – title page (1920).png|thumb|right|alt=Title page of Jamini Bhushan Ray's 1920 medical book Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya|Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''), published in Calcutta in 1920.]]

Ray was a Sanskrit scholar and author whose medical writings covered diagnosis, diseases of the ear, nose and throat, paediatrics, obstetrics and toxicology.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

Ray was elected a Fellow of the [[University of Calcutta]], served as an examiner for [[Banaras Hindu University]] and other universities and educational boards, and was a member of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Royal Asiatic Society]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

The 1923 report of the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine listed five Sanskrit works by Ray among Ayurvedic texts then commonly used as textbooks: ''Roga Vinischayah'', ''Kumaratantram'', ''Vishatantram'', ''Prasutitantram'' and ''Shalakyatantram''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}

Among his published works were:

* ''Roga Vinischaya'' (diagnosis), published in an edition titled ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''). A profile published by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) describes the work as addressing gaps in classical descriptions of diseases that could present difficulties in their clinical application.<ref name="CCRASLuminary">{{Cite web
|url=https://luminaries.ccras.res.in/kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy/
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Ray
|website=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|publisher=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|access-date=22 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="RBU2023">{{Cite report
|title=University Research Programme (URP): Executive Summary 2022–2023
|publisher=Rabindra Bharati University
|year=2023
|pages=148–149
|url=https://www.rbu.ac.in/home/avz9s6ve0gq6/public_html/ckfinder/userfiles/files/URP%20Executive%20Summary%202022-2023.pdf
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/NimB_prati-sanskrita-roga-binischaya-by-jamini-bhushan-ray-calcutta-1920-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=Prati-Saṃskṛta Roga Vinischaya by Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray (Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College, 1920)
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref>
* ''Shalakyatantram'', on diseases of the ear, nose, throat and mouth.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Kumaratantram'', on children's diseases.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Prasutitantram'', on obstetrics.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Vishatantram'', on toxicology; an English-language work was published as ''A Manual of Toxicology''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/zwNL_a-manual-of-toxicology-by-kaviraj-jaimini-bhushan-ray-1920-calcutta-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=A Manual of Toxicology by Kaviraj Jaimini Bhushan Ray, 1920, Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The title page of Ray's 1920 ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' identifies the Ayurvedic Medical College at 29 Fariapukur Street as its publisher.<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prati_Sanskrita_Roga_Binischaya_by_Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_%E2%80%93_title_page_(1920).png
|title=Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya''
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|date=1920
|access-date=19 July 2026
}}</ref>

Ray also published a Bengali work titled ''Swastha Niti'' and was involved in publishing the Bengali monthly journal ''Ayurveda'', which disseminated information about Ayurveda and other medical subjects.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="CCRASLuminary"/> According to CCRAS, the journal was published under the editorial guidance of Kaviraj Srivirajcharan Gupta Kavibhushan, with Ray serving as co-editor.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== Influence beyond Bengal ==

The Ashtanga Ayurveda College attracted students from beyond Bengal. M. N. Pal's 1964 biographical account of Ray records that pupils came from different parts of India as well as Nepal and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to study at the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

Among the students associated with the college was the Sri Lankan Ayurvedic physician G. P. Wickramarachchi, who studied there during the early twentieth century.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> He later played a prominent role in the development of Ayurvedic education in Sri Lanka.<ref name="JRAS2024"/>

== Personal life ==

Ray was married to Saroj Bala Devi, with whom he had six children. According to the CCRAS biographical profile, two of his youngest sons died while still in their late teens.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

His surviving sons Bijoy Bhushan and Amar Bhushan later practised Ayurvedic medicine at the institution founded by their father. Amar Bhushan Ray subsequently served as superintendent of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital, which had been established on land bequeathed by his father.<ref name="Jubilee1964p42">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|page=42
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==

[[File:Photograph of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Portrait of physician and statesman Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy|[[Bidhan Chandra Roy|Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy]], who laid the foundation stone of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital on land bequeathed by Jamini Bhushan Ray.]]

Ray died in Calcutta on 11 August 1926 at the age of forty-seven.<ref name="Samsad"/>

Modern scholarship emphasises Ray's role in the institutional development of Ayurveda in Bengal through his educational and pharmaceutical initiatives.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> The institution he founded continues as the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]. CCRAS also includes Ray in its biographical series on luminaries of Ayurveda.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

[[File:Patipukur T.B. Hospital, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|left|alt=Historic hospital building at Patipukur in Kolkata in 1964|Historic view of Patipukur T.B. Hospital, later reorganised as Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital, in 1964.]]

Ray's bequest of twelve bighas of land at Patipukur, together with his garden house there, subsequently provided the site for a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> According to the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, it was initially established as a 60-bed facility.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

The hospital was later reorganised as '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital#Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital|Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital]]'''. The college's hospital profile describes it as a 94-bed facility associated with the J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.<ref name="JBRHospitalProfile">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbrsamch.org.in/Infrustrcture/177/
|title=Hospital Infrastructure
|publisher=J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital
|access-date=24 June 2026
}}</ref>

{{clear}}

== Recognition ==

[[File:Statue of Jamini Bhushan Ray at J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.png|thumb|right|alt=Marble bust of Jamini Bhushan Ray displayed at the J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Marble bust of Ayurvedic physician and medical educator Jamini Bhushan Ray at the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]] in Kolkata.]]

A street in Kolkata, '''Jamini Kaviraj Row''', was named in Ray's honour.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="JBRayRecognition">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbray.org/collections/recognition
|title=Memory and Recognition
|website=JBRay.org
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>

The [[Ministry of AYUSH]] commemorated Ray's birth anniversary through official social-media posts in 2021, 2022, 2025 and 2026.<ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2021">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1410457649242542084
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2021
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2022">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1542846878408396801
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2022
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2025">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/1939974273562820643
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2025
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2026">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/2072275834409554018
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2026
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) includes Ray in its ''Documentation of Life Profiles of Luminaries in the Field of Ayurveda'' initiative and hosts a biographical profile of him as part of its Luminaries of Ayurveda collection.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== See also ==

* [[Ayurveda]]
* [[Swadeshi movement]]
* [[Gananath Sen]]
* [[Vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier]]
* [[Hakim Ajmal Khan]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite report
|title=A Short Report on the Growth & Development of Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya & Ayurveda Aragyashala
|date=7 January 1953
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Majumdar
|first1=R. C.
|author-link1=R. C. Majumdar
|last2=Raychaudhuri
|first2=H. C.
|author-link2=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri
|last3=Datta
|first3=Kalikinkar
|title=An Advanced History of India
|publisher=Macmillan
|isbn=978-0-333-90298-1
}}

* {{Cite report
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part I
|date=October 1930
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part II
|date=May 1931
}}

* {{Cite book
|editor-last=Singh
|editor-first=P.
|title=Nikhil Bharatvarshiya Ayurveda Mahamandal ka Rajat Jayanti Granth
|volume=I
|location=Benares
|year=1935
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Palit
|first1=Chittabrata
|last2=Dutta
|first2=Achintya Kumar
|title=History of Medicine in India: The Medical Encounter
|isbn=978-81-7835-323-4
|page=228
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yz-zE8waQukC&pg=PA228
|url-access=limited
}}

== External links ==

* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf ''A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach''] by M. N. Pal (1964), biographical account
* [https://jbrsamch.org.in/ J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital], official website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20251007132215/https://getbengal.com/details/j-b-roy-the-forgotten-founder-of-asias-first-ayurvedic-college-in-calcutta ''Dr. J. B. Ray, the forgotten founder of Asia's first Ayurvedic College in Calcutta''] at ''Get Bengal'' (archived)
* [https://opiniontimes.in/doctors-day-yamini-bhusan-roy-ayurved-j-b-roy-state-ayurved-medical-college-and-hospital/ ''আয়ুর্বেদের জনক, অপ্রকাশিত যামিনী''] at ''Opinion Times'' {{in lang|bn}}
* [https://madhyom.com/kaviraj-jamini-bhushan-roy-an-eminent-ayurveda-scholar-and-philanthropist-founded-j-b-roy-state-ayurvedic-medical-college-and-hospital ''অ্যালোপ্যাথি ছেড়ে আয়ুর্বেদ! নতুন পথের দিশারী কবিরাজ যামিনীভূষণ রায়''] at ''Madhyom'' {{in lang|bn}}

{{Ayurveda}}
{{Bengal Renaissance}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Jamini Bhushan}}

[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Ayurvedacharyas]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Sanskrit scholars from Bengal]]
[[Category:The Sanskrit College and University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian medical doctors]]

Jamini Bhushan Ray

2026-09-25T00:34:28Z

DocumentedPast: Removed the wiki-linking double brackets around formulations

{{Short description|Indian physician}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jamini Bhushan Ray
| native_name = যামিনী ভূষণ রায়
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray.png
| image_upright = 1.15
| alt = Portrait of Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray
| caption = Portrait of Ray
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|7|1}}
| birth_place = [[Khulna]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1926|8|11|1879|7|1}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| occupation = Ayurvedic physician Medical educator Sanskrit scholar
| education = [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]] [[Calcutta Medical College]]
| known_for = Founding the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] Modernising Ayurvedic education in Bengal
| spouse = Saroj Bala Devi
| children = 6
| website = {{URL|https://jbray.org}}
}}

'''Jamini Bhushan Ray''' ({{langx|bn|যামিনী ভূষণ রায়}}; 1 July 1879 (17 [[Asharh]] 1286 [[Bengali calendar|BS]]) – 11 August 1926 (26 [[Srabon]] 1333 [[Bengali calendar|BS]])) was an Indian Ayurvedic physician, Sanskrit scholar, educator, and philanthropist.<ref name="Samsad">{{Cite book
|editor=Subodh Chandra Sengupta
|title=সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান
|trans-title=Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan
|edition=Revised 3rd
|publisher=Sahitya Samsad
|language=bn
|chapter=যামিনীভূষণ রায়
|date=1976
|pages=429–430
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.458268/page/428/mode/2up
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref> He founded the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] in 1916 and established the Vaidyaraj Pharmacy, both of which formed part of his efforts to modernise Ayurvedic education and pharmaceutical practice during the late [[British Raj|colonial period]]. Contemporary scholarship identifies him as an important figure in the revival of Ayurveda in Bengal through the development of educational institutions, pharmaceutical enterprises and professional organisations.<ref name="JRAS2024">{{cite journal
|last1=Bhushan
|first1=Shakti
|last2=Saha
|first2=Suparna
|last3=Panja
|first3=Asit Kumar
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Roy: The man who led the Ayurveda renaissance in Bengal
|journal=Journal of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|year=2024
|volume=8
|issue=Suppl 1
|pages=S43–S47
|doi=10.4103/jras.jras_364_23
|doi-access=free
|url=https://www.ovid.com/jnls/jras/fulltext/10.4103/jras.jras_364_23~kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy-the-man-who-led-the-ayurveda
}}</ref>

Trained in both Sanskrit scholarship and Western medicine, Ray advocated the systematic study of Ayurveda and promoted formal education, clinical training and scholarly publication alongside its classical traditions.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

== Early life and education ==

Ray was born in Poyogram village in the [[Khulna District]] of the [[Bengal Presidency]], then part of [[British India]] (now [[Bangladesh]]). He was the son of the Ayurvedic physician Panchanan Ray, who was known by the honorific title ''Kavichintamani''.<ref name="Samsad" /> After receiving his early education in his native village, he moved to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] for higher studies and attended South Suburban School in [[Bhowanipore]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|pages=44–47
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="Prohor"/> While attending the school, he lived in a rented house in the neighbourhood.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray studied at [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]], where he earned a B.A. degree in [[Sanskrit]]. While pursuing an M.A. degree in Sanskrit and medical studies at [[Calcutta Medical College]], he continued to study Ayurveda under his father, Kaviraj Panchanan Ray.<ref name="Samsad"/><ref name="Prohor">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250814084305/https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-date=14 August 2025
|url-status=dead
|title=এশিয়ার প্রথম আয়ুর্বেদিক কলেজ কলকাতাতেই, বিস্মৃতপ্রায় প্রতিষ্ঠাতা যামিনীভূষণ
|website=Prohor
|language=bn
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray obtained an M.A. degree in Sanskrit, for which he received a medal.<ref name="Samsad"/> He graduated with a [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery|Bachelor of Medicine]] (M.B.) degree in 1905 and was awarded a gold medal.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Prohor"/> Following graduation, he practised obstetrics and gynaecology before devoting himself entirely to Ayurveda.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/> Although he had opportunities to enter government medical service under the British administration, Ray declined them in favour of practising Ayurveda.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray completed his Ayurvedic training under Mahamahopadhyay Bijoy Ratna Sen and subsequently served as Kaviraj at the Bowbazar Marwari Hospital.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Vaidyaraj Pharmacy and standardisation of Ayurvedic medicine ==

Among Ray's institutional initiatives was the establishment of the '''Vaidyaraj Pharmacy'''.<ref name="JRAS2024" /><ref name="IndianEmbassyBern">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.indembassybern.gov.in/content/16030874512.pdf
|title=International Day of Yoga 2020
|publisher=Embassy of India, Bern
|date=2020
|page=11
|format=PDF
|access-date=17 July 2026
}}</ref> Located at 46 Beadon Street in Calcutta, the enterprise manufactured and distributed Ayurvedic medicines using systematic methods of preparation and quality control.<ref name="ChopraCommittee1948">{{Cite report
|title=Report of the Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine (Chopra Committee)
|volume=II
|publisher=Ministry of Health, Government of India
|year=1948
|page=180
|url=https://ia902900.us.archive.org/13/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.112421/2015.112421.Report-Of-The-Committee-On-Indigenous-Systems-Of-Medicine--Volii_text.pdf
|access-date=20 July 2026
}}</ref>

Such initiatives formed part of the broader institutionalisation and modernisation of Ayurveda during the colonial period. Through pharmaceutical production, standardisation of formulations and dissemination of Ayurvedic literature, Ray and other reformers sought to place Ayurveda within increasingly organised educational and clinical settings.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

Medicines produced by the pharmacy were also distributed free of charge to poor patients.<ref name="Prohor"/>

== Founder of Ashtanga Ayurveda College ==

[[File:Ashtanga Ayurveda Hospital, Raja Dinendra Street, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|right|alt=Historic three-storey hospital building at the Raja Dinendra Street campus in Kolkata|Historic view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]], Kolkata, in 1964.]]

In 1916, Ray founded the '''Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital''' in Calcutta.<ref name="JRAS2024" /> Initially established in a rented house at 29 Fariapukur Street in north Calcutta, the college admitted twelve students in its first intake.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Editorial1964">{{cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=bn
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref> Tuition, board and lodging were provided without charge.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Ray sought to place Ayurvedic education within an organised collegiate setting, with specialist instructors and systematic teaching. The curriculum provided instruction in all eight classical branches of Ayurveda (''Ashtanga''), together with practical clinical training through an attached teaching hospital.<ref name="Premananda1964">{{cite web
|title=Address by Kaviraj Premananda Kavyatirtha at Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda College Reunion
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Address_of_Kaviraj_Premananda_Kavyatirtha_at_Jamini_Bhushan_Ashtanga_Ayurveda_College_Reunion.pdf
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|publisher=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya 20th Reunion Committee of 1964
|date=15 May 1964
|access-date=11 July 2026
}}</ref> Ray served as the institution's first principal, with Biraja Charan Gupta as vice-principal.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

[[File:J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata.png|thumb|left|220px|alt=Present-day view of the courtyard of J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata|Present-day view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]], which evolved from the ''Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala'' founded by Jamini Bhushan Ray in 1916.]]

An outpatient dispensary was established alongside the college and soon treated about 100 patients daily.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> The institution also provided free medical treatment to poor patients, with Ray reportedly attending daily to treat them.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray introduced practical instruction in subjects including surgery, obstetrics, toxicology and medical jurisprudence alongside the classical Ayurvedic curriculum.<ref name="Premananda1964" />

The institution was subsequently registered as a public institution and placed under an executive committee; its first executive committee dates from 1919, with Krishna Das Bandyopadhyay serving as secretary.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

The institution later evolved into the '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]'''. A Bengali biographical dictionary records its historical name as ''Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala''.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Presidency of the All India Ayurvedic Conference ==

[[File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - opening panel - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916.png|thumb|left|220px|link=File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916 - restored reading edition.png|alt=Opening panel of a 1916 Behar Herald newspaper report on the Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference|Opening panel of the restored Behar Herald report on the 1915 Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference. Click to view the complete four-panel reading edition.]]

In 1915 Ray was elected president of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference held in [[Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]).<ref name="Conference1915">{{Cite book
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}</ref>

Contemporary commentary on Ray's presidential address described him as combining the medical traditions of East and West and praised his efforts to reconcile classical Ayurvedic learning with modern scientific medicine.<ref name="BeharHerald1916">{{Cite news
|title=The All-India Ayurvedic Conference
|newspaper=Behar Herald
|date=1 April 1916
|pages=1–2
|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Behar_Herald_01-04-1916.pdf
|access-date=26 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray emphasised collective rather than individual efforts for the advancement of Ayurveda. He presented the conference as evidence of a wider revival of interest in indigenous medicine and urged that Ayurveda be developed in a "truly scientific spirit".<ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

In his presidential address, Ray advocated preserving Ayurveda's classical foundations while strengthening scientific education, including the study of anatomy, dissection, surgery and clinical practice.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

{{clear}}

== Evidence before the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine ==

During the 1921–1923 inquiry of the Madras Presidency's Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine, Ray submitted written evidence and was interviewed in Calcutta by its touring subcommittee. The subcommittee also inspected the Ashtanga Ayurvedic College. The report identified Ray and [[Gananath Sen]] as practitioners proficient in both Ayurveda and Western medicine and drew on their evidence in its discussion of diagnosis and treatment.<ref name="UsmanCommittee">{{Cite report
|author=Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|title=Report of the Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|publisher=Government Press
|location=Madras
|year=1923
|url=https://archive.org/details/b32176946_0001
|access-date=21 July 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|pp=50–61, 99, 103}}

In his evidence, Ray attributed the decline of Ayurvedic surgery partly to the inaccessibility of Sanskrit medical texts and the scarcity of competent teachers, but maintained that the discipline could be revived through research and systematic investigation. He described Ayurvedic diagnosis as combining observation through the senses and patient interrogation with consideration of a patient's constitution, environment, season and the progression of disease.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|pp=2–3, 50–53, 59–61, 73–74}}

== Association with Mahatma Gandhi ==

[[File:Mahatma-Gandhi, studio, 1931.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Studio portrait of Mahatma Gandhi wearing a white shawl and round spectacles|[[Mahatma Gandhi]], who laid the foundation stone of the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital on 6 May 1925.]]

On 6 May 1925, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] laid the foundation stone of the new building of the Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya in Calcutta.<ref name="CWMG">{{cite book
|last=Gandhi
|first=M. K.
|author-link=Mahatma Gandhi
|chapter=Speech at Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya
|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi
|volume=27
|date=1968
|orig-date=6 May 1925
|publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India
|chapter-url=https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/cwmg_volume_thumbview/Mjc=#page/74/mode/2up
|via=Gandhi Heritage Portal
|access-date=15 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JRAS2024"/>

In his address, Gandhi called for greater humility, honesty and scientific inquiry among [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] and [[Unani medicine|Unani]] practitioners. He criticised exaggerated medical claims and objectionable advertising by practitioners of indigenous medicine, while describing the Vidyalaya itself as a "noble institution".<ref name="CWMG"/>

Scholar Shambhu Prasad places the address within Gandhi's broader attempt to reform Ayurveda from within, arguing that Gandhi sought greater honesty, humility and research among Ayurvedic practitioners rather than rejection of the tradition itself.<ref name="Prasad2001">{{cite journal
|last=Prasad
|first=Shambhu
|title=Towards an Understanding of Gandhi's Views on Science
|journal=Economic and Political Weekly
|volume=36
|issue=39
|date=29 September 2001
|pages=3721–3732
|jstor=4411167
}}</ref>

== Philanthropy ==

Ray provided substantial financial and property support to the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital. According to a biographical account by M. N. Pal published in the institution's 1964 commemorative volume, Ray contributed ₹70,000 towards the construction of its buildings.<ref name="Pal1964">{{cite book
|last=Pal
|first=M. N.
|chapter=A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach
|title=J.B. Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Ayurvediya Arogyasala Commemorative Booklet
|publisher=Jubilee Celebration Committee
|location=Calcutta
|year=1964
|pages=44–47
|chapter-url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|p=2}}

Before his death in August 1926, Ray also bequeathed property to the institution in his will. The bequests comprised thirteen cottahs of land at Ballygunge, six cottahs on Grey Street, twelve bighas at Patipukur together with his garden house there, and health recovery houses at Kurseong and Ranchi.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

The Patipukur property subsequently became the site of a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} A separate commemorative history records that [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Separately, ''Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' records that Ray donated ₹200,000 towards Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya on the day before his death.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Publications and scholarship ==

[[File:Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya by Jamini Bhushan Ray – title page (1920).png|thumb|right|alt=Title page of Jamini Bhushan Ray's 1920 medical book Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya|Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''), published in Calcutta in 1920.]]

Ray was a Sanskrit scholar and author whose medical writings covered diagnosis, diseases of the ear, nose and throat, paediatrics, obstetrics and toxicology.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

Ray was elected a Fellow of the [[University of Calcutta]], served as an examiner for [[Banaras Hindu University]] and other universities and educational boards, and was a member of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Royal Asiatic Society]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

The 1923 report of the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine listed five Sanskrit works by Ray among Ayurvedic texts then commonly used as textbooks: ''Roga Vinischayah'', ''Kumaratantram'', ''Vishatantram'', ''Prasutitantram'' and ''Shalakyatantram''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}

Among his published works were:

* ''Roga Vinischaya'' (diagnosis), published in an edition titled ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''). A profile published by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) describes the work as addressing gaps in classical descriptions of diseases that could present difficulties in their clinical application.<ref name="CCRASLuminary">{{Cite web
|url=https://luminaries.ccras.res.in/kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy/
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Ray
|website=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|publisher=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|access-date=22 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="RBU2023">{{Cite report
|title=University Research Programme (URP): Executive Summary 2022–2023
|publisher=Rabindra Bharati University
|year=2023
|pages=148–149
|url=https://www.rbu.ac.in/home/avz9s6ve0gq6/public_html/ckfinder/userfiles/files/URP%20Executive%20Summary%202022-2023.pdf
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/NimB_prati-sanskrita-roga-binischaya-by-jamini-bhushan-ray-calcutta-1920-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=Prati-Saṃskṛta Roga Vinischaya by Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray (Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College, 1920)
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref>
* ''Shalakyatantram'', on diseases of the ear, nose, throat and mouth.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Kumaratantram'', on children's diseases.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Prasutitantram'', on obstetrics.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Vishatantram'', on toxicology; an English-language work was published as ''A Manual of Toxicology''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/zwNL_a-manual-of-toxicology-by-kaviraj-jaimini-bhushan-ray-1920-calcutta-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=A Manual of Toxicology by Kaviraj Jaimini Bhushan Ray, 1920, Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The title page of Ray's 1920 ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' identifies the Ayurvedic Medical College at 29 Fariapukur Street as its publisher.<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prati_Sanskrita_Roga_Binischaya_by_Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_%E2%80%93_title_page_(1920).png
|title=Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya''
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|date=1920
|access-date=19 July 2026
}}</ref>

Ray also published a Bengali work titled ''Swastha Niti'' and was involved in publishing the Bengali monthly journal ''Ayurveda'', which disseminated information about Ayurveda and other medical subjects.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="CCRASLuminary"/> According to CCRAS, the journal was published under the editorial guidance of Kaviraj Srivirajcharan Gupta Kavibhushan, with Ray serving as co-editor.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== Influence beyond Bengal ==

The Ashtanga Ayurveda College attracted students from beyond Bengal. M. N. Pal's 1964 biographical account of Ray records that pupils came from different parts of India as well as Nepal and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to study at the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

Among the students associated with the college was the Sri Lankan Ayurvedic physician G. P. Wickramarachchi, who studied there during the early twentieth century.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> He later played a prominent role in the development of Ayurvedic education in Sri Lanka.<ref name="JRAS2024"/>

== Personal life ==

Ray was married to Saroj Bala Devi, with whom he had six children. According to the CCRAS biographical profile, two of his youngest sons died while still in their late teens.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

His surviving sons Bijoy Bhushan and Amar Bhushan later practised Ayurvedic medicine at the institution founded by their father. Amar Bhushan Ray subsequently served as superintendent of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital, which had been established on land bequeathed by his father.<ref name="Jubilee1964p42">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|page=42
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==

[[File:Photograph of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Portrait of physician and statesman Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy|[[Bidhan Chandra Roy|Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy]], who laid the foundation stone of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital on land bequeathed by Jamini Bhushan Ray.]]

Ray died in Calcutta on 11 August 1926 at the age of forty-seven.<ref name="Samsad"/>

Modern scholarship emphasises Ray's role in the institutional development of Ayurveda in Bengal through his educational and pharmaceutical initiatives.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> The institution he founded continues as the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]. CCRAS also includes Ray in its biographical series on luminaries of Ayurveda.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

[[File:Patipukur T.B. Hospital, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|left|alt=Historic hospital building at Patipukur in Kolkata in 1964|Historic view of Patipukur T.B. Hospital, later reorganised as Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital, in 1964.]]

Ray's bequest of twelve bighas of land at Patipukur, together with his garden house there, subsequently provided the site for a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> According to the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, it was initially established as a 60-bed facility.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

The hospital was later reorganised as '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital#Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital|Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital]]'''. The college's hospital profile describes it as a 94-bed facility associated with the J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.<ref name="JBRHospitalProfile">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbrsamch.org.in/Infrustrcture/177/
|title=Hospital Infrastructure
|publisher=J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital
|access-date=24 June 2026
}}</ref>

{{clear}}

== Recognition ==

[[File:Statue of Jamini Bhushan Ray at J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.png|thumb|right|alt=Marble bust of Jamini Bhushan Ray displayed at the J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Marble bust of Ayurvedic physician and medical educator Jamini Bhushan Ray at the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]] in Kolkata.]]

A street in Kolkata, '''Jamini Kaviraj Row''', was named in Ray's honour.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="JBRayRecognition">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbray.org/collections/recognition
|title=Memory and Recognition
|website=JBRay.org
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>

The [[Ministry of AYUSH]] commemorated Ray's birth anniversary through official social-media posts in 2021, 2022, 2025 and 2026.<ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2021">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1410457649242542084
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2021
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2022">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1542846878408396801
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2022
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2025">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/1939974273562820643
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2025
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2026">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/2072275834409554018
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2026
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) includes Ray in its ''Documentation of Life Profiles of Luminaries in the Field of Ayurveda'' initiative and hosts a biographical profile of him as part of its Luminaries of Ayurveda collection.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== See also ==

* [[Ayurveda]]
* [[Swadeshi movement]]
* [[Gananath Sen]]
* [[Vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier]]
* [[Hakim Ajmal Khan]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite report
|title=A Short Report on the Growth & Development of Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya & Ayurveda Aragyashala
|date=7 January 1953
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Majumdar
|first1=R. C.
|author-link1=R. C. Majumdar
|last2=Raychaudhuri
|first2=H. C.
|author-link2=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri
|last3=Datta
|first3=Kalikinkar
|title=An Advanced History of India
|publisher=Macmillan
|isbn=978-0-333-90298-1
}}

* {{Cite report
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part I
|date=October 1930
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part II
|date=May 1931
}}

* {{Cite book
|editor-last=Singh
|editor-first=P.
|title=Nikhil Bharatvarshiya Ayurveda Mahamandal ka Rajat Jayanti Granth
|volume=I
|location=Benares
|year=1935
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Palit
|first1=Chittabrata
|last2=Dutta
|first2=Achintya Kumar
|title=History of Medicine in India: The Medical Encounter
|isbn=978-81-7835-323-4
|page=228
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yz-zE8waQukC&pg=PA228
|url-access=limited
}}

== External links ==

* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf ''A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach''] by M. N. Pal (1964), biographical account
* [https://jbrsamch.org.in/ J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital], official website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20251007132215/https://getbengal.com/details/j-b-roy-the-forgotten-founder-of-asias-first-ayurvedic-college-in-calcutta ''Dr. J. B. Ray, the forgotten founder of Asia's first Ayurvedic College in Calcutta''] at ''Get Bengal'' (archived)
* [https://opiniontimes.in/doctors-day-yamini-bhusan-roy-ayurved-j-b-roy-state-ayurved-medical-college-and-hospital/ ''আয়ুর্বেদের জনক, অপ্রকাশিত যামিনী''] at ''Opinion Times'' {{in lang|bn}}
* [https://madhyom.com/kaviraj-jamini-bhushan-roy-an-eminent-ayurveda-scholar-and-philanthropist-founded-j-b-roy-state-ayurvedic-medical-college-and-hospital ''অ্যালোপ্যাথি ছেড়ে আয়ুর্বেদ! নতুন পথের দিশারী কবিরাজ যামিনীভূষণ রায়''] at ''Madhyom'' {{in lang|bn}}

{{Ayurveda}}
{{Bengal Renaissance}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Jamini Bhushan}}

[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Ayurvedacharyas]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Sanskrit scholars from Bengal]]
[[Category:The Sanskrit College and University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian medical doctors]]

Jamini Bhushan Ray

2026-09-25T00:32:47Z

DocumentedPast: Removed the wiki-linking double brackets around Sri Lankan Ayurvedic physician G. P. Wickramarachchi.

{{Short description|Indian physician}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jamini Bhushan Ray
| native_name = যামিনী ভূষণ রায়
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray.png
| image_upright = 1.15
| alt = Portrait of Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray
| caption = Portrait of Ray
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|7|1}}
| birth_place = [[Khulna]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1926|8|11|1879|7|1}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| occupation = Ayurvedic physician Medical educator Sanskrit scholar
| education = [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]] [[Calcutta Medical College]]
| known_for = Founding the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] Modernising Ayurvedic education in Bengal
| spouse = Saroj Bala Devi
| children = 6
| website = {{URL|https://jbray.org}}
}}

'''Jamini Bhushan Ray''' ({{langx|bn|যামিনী ভূষণ রায়}}; 1 July 1879 (17 [[Asharh]] 1286 [[Bengali calendar|BS]]) – 11 August 1926 (26 [[Srabon]] 1333 [[Bengali calendar|BS]])) was an Indian Ayurvedic physician, Sanskrit scholar, educator, and philanthropist.<ref name="Samsad">{{Cite book
|editor=Subodh Chandra Sengupta
|title=সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান
|trans-title=Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan
|edition=Revised 3rd
|publisher=Sahitya Samsad
|language=bn
|chapter=যামিনীভূষণ রায়
|date=1976
|pages=429–430
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.458268/page/428/mode/2up
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref> He founded the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] in 1916 and established the Vaidyaraj Pharmacy, both of which formed part of his efforts to modernise Ayurvedic education and pharmaceutical practice during the late [[British Raj|colonial period]]. Contemporary scholarship identifies him as an important figure in the revival of Ayurveda in Bengal through the development of educational institutions, pharmaceutical enterprises and professional organisations.<ref name="JRAS2024">{{cite journal
|last1=Bhushan
|first1=Shakti
|last2=Saha
|first2=Suparna
|last3=Panja
|first3=Asit Kumar
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Roy: The man who led the Ayurveda renaissance in Bengal
|journal=Journal of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|year=2024
|volume=8
|issue=Suppl 1
|pages=S43–S47
|doi=10.4103/jras.jras_364_23
|doi-access=free
|url=https://www.ovid.com/jnls/jras/fulltext/10.4103/jras.jras_364_23~kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy-the-man-who-led-the-ayurveda
}}</ref>

Trained in both Sanskrit scholarship and Western medicine, Ray advocated the systematic study of Ayurveda and promoted formal education, clinical training and scholarly publication alongside its classical traditions.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

== Early life and education ==

Ray was born in Poyogram village in the [[Khulna District]] of the [[Bengal Presidency]], then part of [[British India]] (now [[Bangladesh]]). He was the son of the Ayurvedic physician Panchanan Ray, who was known by the honorific title ''Kavichintamani''.<ref name="Samsad" /> After receiving his early education in his native village, he moved to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] for higher studies and attended South Suburban School in [[Bhowanipore]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|pages=44–47
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="Prohor"/> While attending the school, he lived in a rented house in the neighbourhood.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray studied at [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]], where he earned a B.A. degree in [[Sanskrit]]. While pursuing an M.A. degree in Sanskrit and medical studies at [[Calcutta Medical College]], he continued to study Ayurveda under his father, Kaviraj Panchanan Ray.<ref name="Samsad"/><ref name="Prohor">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250814084305/https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-date=14 August 2025
|url-status=dead
|title=এশিয়ার প্রথম আয়ুর্বেদিক কলেজ কলকাতাতেই, বিস্মৃতপ্রায় প্রতিষ্ঠাতা যামিনীভূষণ
|website=Prohor
|language=bn
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray obtained an M.A. degree in Sanskrit, for which he received a medal.<ref name="Samsad"/> He graduated with a [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery|Bachelor of Medicine]] (M.B.) degree in 1905 and was awarded a gold medal.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Prohor"/> Following graduation, he practised obstetrics and gynaecology before devoting himself entirely to Ayurveda.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/> Although he had opportunities to enter government medical service under the British administration, Ray declined them in favour of practising Ayurveda.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray completed his Ayurvedic training under Mahamahopadhyay Bijoy Ratna Sen and subsequently served as Kaviraj at the Bowbazar Marwari Hospital.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Vaidyaraj Pharmacy and standardisation of Ayurvedic medicine ==

Among Ray's institutional initiatives was the establishment of the '''Vaidyaraj Pharmacy'''.<ref name="JRAS2024" /><ref name="IndianEmbassyBern">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.indembassybern.gov.in/content/16030874512.pdf
|title=International Day of Yoga 2020
|publisher=Embassy of India, Bern
|date=2020
|page=11
|format=PDF
|access-date=17 July 2026
}}</ref> Located at 46 Beadon Street in Calcutta, the enterprise manufactured and distributed Ayurvedic medicines using systematic methods of preparation and quality control.<ref name="ChopraCommittee1948">{{Cite report
|title=Report of the Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine (Chopra Committee)
|volume=II
|publisher=Ministry of Health, Government of India
|year=1948
|page=180
|url=https://ia902900.us.archive.org/13/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.112421/2015.112421.Report-Of-The-Committee-On-Indigenous-Systems-Of-Medicine--Volii_text.pdf
|access-date=20 July 2026
}}</ref>

Such initiatives formed part of the broader institutionalisation and modernisation of Ayurveda during the colonial period. Through pharmaceutical production, standardisation of [[pharmaceutical formulation|formulations]] and dissemination of Ayurvedic literature, Ray and other reformers sought to place Ayurveda within increasingly organised educational and clinical settings.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

Medicines produced by the pharmacy were also distributed free of charge to poor patients.<ref name="Prohor"/>

== Founder of Ashtanga Ayurveda College ==

[[File:Ashtanga Ayurveda Hospital, Raja Dinendra Street, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|right|alt=Historic three-storey hospital building at the Raja Dinendra Street campus in Kolkata|Historic view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]], Kolkata, in 1964.]]

In 1916, Ray founded the '''Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital''' in Calcutta.<ref name="JRAS2024" /> Initially established in a rented house at 29 Fariapukur Street in north Calcutta, the college admitted twelve students in its first intake.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Editorial1964">{{cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=bn
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref> Tuition, board and lodging were provided without charge.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Ray sought to place Ayurvedic education within an organised collegiate setting, with specialist instructors and systematic teaching. The curriculum provided instruction in all eight classical branches of Ayurveda (''Ashtanga''), together with practical clinical training through an attached teaching hospital.<ref name="Premananda1964">{{cite web
|title=Address by Kaviraj Premananda Kavyatirtha at Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda College Reunion
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Address_of_Kaviraj_Premananda_Kavyatirtha_at_Jamini_Bhushan_Ashtanga_Ayurveda_College_Reunion.pdf
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|publisher=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya 20th Reunion Committee of 1964
|date=15 May 1964
|access-date=11 July 2026
}}</ref> Ray served as the institution's first principal, with Biraja Charan Gupta as vice-principal.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

[[File:J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata.png|thumb|left|220px|alt=Present-day view of the courtyard of J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata|Present-day view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]], which evolved from the ''Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala'' founded by Jamini Bhushan Ray in 1916.]]

An outpatient dispensary was established alongside the college and soon treated about 100 patients daily.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> The institution also provided free medical treatment to poor patients, with Ray reportedly attending daily to treat them.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray introduced practical instruction in subjects including surgery, obstetrics, toxicology and medical jurisprudence alongside the classical Ayurvedic curriculum.<ref name="Premananda1964" />

The institution was subsequently registered as a public institution and placed under an executive committee; its first executive committee dates from 1919, with Krishna Das Bandyopadhyay serving as secretary.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

The institution later evolved into the '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]'''. A Bengali biographical dictionary records its historical name as ''Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala''.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Presidency of the All India Ayurvedic Conference ==

[[File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - opening panel - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916.png|thumb|left|220px|link=File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916 - restored reading edition.png|alt=Opening panel of a 1916 Behar Herald newspaper report on the Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference|Opening panel of the restored Behar Herald report on the 1915 Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference. Click to view the complete four-panel reading edition.]]

In 1915 Ray was elected president of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference held in [[Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]).<ref name="Conference1915">{{Cite book
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}</ref>

Contemporary commentary on Ray's presidential address described him as combining the medical traditions of East and West and praised his efforts to reconcile classical Ayurvedic learning with modern scientific medicine.<ref name="BeharHerald1916">{{Cite news
|title=The All-India Ayurvedic Conference
|newspaper=Behar Herald
|date=1 April 1916
|pages=1–2
|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Behar_Herald_01-04-1916.pdf
|access-date=26 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray emphasised collective rather than individual efforts for the advancement of Ayurveda. He presented the conference as evidence of a wider revival of interest in indigenous medicine and urged that Ayurveda be developed in a "truly scientific spirit".<ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

In his presidential address, Ray advocated preserving Ayurveda's classical foundations while strengthening scientific education, including the study of anatomy, dissection, surgery and clinical practice.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

{{clear}}

== Evidence before the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine ==

During the 1921–1923 inquiry of the Madras Presidency's Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine, Ray submitted written evidence and was interviewed in Calcutta by its touring subcommittee. The subcommittee also inspected the Ashtanga Ayurvedic College. The report identified Ray and [[Gananath Sen]] as practitioners proficient in both Ayurveda and Western medicine and drew on their evidence in its discussion of diagnosis and treatment.<ref name="UsmanCommittee">{{Cite report
|author=Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|title=Report of the Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|publisher=Government Press
|location=Madras
|year=1923
|url=https://archive.org/details/b32176946_0001
|access-date=21 July 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|pp=50–61, 99, 103}}

In his evidence, Ray attributed the decline of Ayurvedic surgery partly to the inaccessibility of Sanskrit medical texts and the scarcity of competent teachers, but maintained that the discipline could be revived through research and systematic investigation. He described Ayurvedic diagnosis as combining observation through the senses and patient interrogation with consideration of a patient's constitution, environment, season and the progression of disease.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|pp=2–3, 50–53, 59–61, 73–74}}

== Association with Mahatma Gandhi ==

[[File:Mahatma-Gandhi, studio, 1931.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Studio portrait of Mahatma Gandhi wearing a white shawl and round spectacles|[[Mahatma Gandhi]], who laid the foundation stone of the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital on 6 May 1925.]]

On 6 May 1925, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] laid the foundation stone of the new building of the Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya in Calcutta.<ref name="CWMG">{{cite book
|last=Gandhi
|first=M. K.
|author-link=Mahatma Gandhi
|chapter=Speech at Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya
|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi
|volume=27
|date=1968
|orig-date=6 May 1925
|publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India
|chapter-url=https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/cwmg_volume_thumbview/Mjc=#page/74/mode/2up
|via=Gandhi Heritage Portal
|access-date=15 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JRAS2024"/>

In his address, Gandhi called for greater humility, honesty and scientific inquiry among [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] and [[Unani medicine|Unani]] practitioners. He criticised exaggerated medical claims and objectionable advertising by practitioners of indigenous medicine, while describing the Vidyalaya itself as a "noble institution".<ref name="CWMG"/>

Scholar Shambhu Prasad places the address within Gandhi's broader attempt to reform Ayurveda from within, arguing that Gandhi sought greater honesty, humility and research among Ayurvedic practitioners rather than rejection of the tradition itself.<ref name="Prasad2001">{{cite journal
|last=Prasad
|first=Shambhu
|title=Towards an Understanding of Gandhi's Views on Science
|journal=Economic and Political Weekly
|volume=36
|issue=39
|date=29 September 2001
|pages=3721–3732
|jstor=4411167
}}</ref>

== Philanthropy ==

Ray provided substantial financial and property support to the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital. According to a biographical account by M. N. Pal published in the institution's 1964 commemorative volume, Ray contributed ₹70,000 towards the construction of its buildings.<ref name="Pal1964">{{cite book
|last=Pal
|first=M. N.
|chapter=A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach
|title=J.B. Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Ayurvediya Arogyasala Commemorative Booklet
|publisher=Jubilee Celebration Committee
|location=Calcutta
|year=1964
|pages=44–47
|chapter-url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|p=2}}

Before his death in August 1926, Ray also bequeathed property to the institution in his will. The bequests comprised thirteen cottahs of land at Ballygunge, six cottahs on Grey Street, twelve bighas at Patipukur together with his garden house there, and health recovery houses at Kurseong and Ranchi.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

The Patipukur property subsequently became the site of a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} A separate commemorative history records that [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Separately, ''Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' records that Ray donated ₹200,000 towards Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya on the day before his death.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Publications and scholarship ==

[[File:Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya by Jamini Bhushan Ray – title page (1920).png|thumb|right|alt=Title page of Jamini Bhushan Ray's 1920 medical book Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya|Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''), published in Calcutta in 1920.]]

Ray was a Sanskrit scholar and author whose medical writings covered diagnosis, diseases of the ear, nose and throat, paediatrics, obstetrics and toxicology.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

Ray was elected a Fellow of the [[University of Calcutta]], served as an examiner for [[Banaras Hindu University]] and other universities and educational boards, and was a member of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Royal Asiatic Society]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

The 1923 report of the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine listed five Sanskrit works by Ray among Ayurvedic texts then commonly used as textbooks: ''Roga Vinischayah'', ''Kumaratantram'', ''Vishatantram'', ''Prasutitantram'' and ''Shalakyatantram''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}

Among his published works were:

* ''Roga Vinischaya'' (diagnosis), published in an edition titled ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''). A profile published by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) describes the work as addressing gaps in classical descriptions of diseases that could present difficulties in their clinical application.<ref name="CCRASLuminary">{{Cite web
|url=https://luminaries.ccras.res.in/kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy/
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Ray
|website=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|publisher=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|access-date=22 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="RBU2023">{{Cite report
|title=University Research Programme (URP): Executive Summary 2022–2023
|publisher=Rabindra Bharati University
|year=2023
|pages=148–149
|url=https://www.rbu.ac.in/home/avz9s6ve0gq6/public_html/ckfinder/userfiles/files/URP%20Executive%20Summary%202022-2023.pdf
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/NimB_prati-sanskrita-roga-binischaya-by-jamini-bhushan-ray-calcutta-1920-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=Prati-Saṃskṛta Roga Vinischaya by Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray (Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College, 1920)
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref>
* ''Shalakyatantram'', on diseases of the ear, nose, throat and mouth.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Kumaratantram'', on children's diseases.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Prasutitantram'', on obstetrics.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Vishatantram'', on toxicology; an English-language work was published as ''A Manual of Toxicology''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/zwNL_a-manual-of-toxicology-by-kaviraj-jaimini-bhushan-ray-1920-calcutta-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=A Manual of Toxicology by Kaviraj Jaimini Bhushan Ray, 1920, Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The title page of Ray's 1920 ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' identifies the Ayurvedic Medical College at 29 Fariapukur Street as its publisher.<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prati_Sanskrita_Roga_Binischaya_by_Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_%E2%80%93_title_page_(1920).png
|title=Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya''
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|date=1920
|access-date=19 July 2026
}}</ref>

Ray also published a Bengali work titled ''Swastha Niti'' and was involved in publishing the Bengali monthly journal ''Ayurveda'', which disseminated information about Ayurveda and other medical subjects.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="CCRASLuminary"/> According to CCRAS, the journal was published under the editorial guidance of Kaviraj Srivirajcharan Gupta Kavibhushan, with Ray serving as co-editor.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== Influence beyond Bengal ==

The Ashtanga Ayurveda College attracted students from beyond Bengal. M. N. Pal's 1964 biographical account of Ray records that pupils came from different parts of India as well as Nepal and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to study at the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

Among the students associated with the college was the Sri Lankan Ayurvedic physician G. P. Wickramarachchi, who studied there during the early twentieth century.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> He later played a prominent role in the development of Ayurvedic education in Sri Lanka.<ref name="JRAS2024"/>

== Personal life ==

Ray was married to Saroj Bala Devi, with whom he had six children. According to the CCRAS biographical profile, two of his youngest sons died while still in their late teens.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

His surviving sons Bijoy Bhushan and Amar Bhushan later practised Ayurvedic medicine at the institution founded by their father. Amar Bhushan Ray subsequently served as superintendent of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital, which had been established on land bequeathed by his father.<ref name="Jubilee1964p42">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|page=42
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==

[[File:Photograph of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Portrait of physician and statesman Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy|[[Bidhan Chandra Roy|Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy]], who laid the foundation stone of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital on land bequeathed by Jamini Bhushan Ray.]]

Ray died in Calcutta on 11 August 1926 at the age of forty-seven.<ref name="Samsad"/>

Modern scholarship emphasises Ray's role in the institutional development of Ayurveda in Bengal through his educational and pharmaceutical initiatives.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> The institution he founded continues as the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]. CCRAS also includes Ray in its biographical series on luminaries of Ayurveda.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

[[File:Patipukur T.B. Hospital, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|left|alt=Historic hospital building at Patipukur in Kolkata in 1964|Historic view of Patipukur T.B. Hospital, later reorganised as Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital, in 1964.]]

Ray's bequest of twelve bighas of land at Patipukur, together with his garden house there, subsequently provided the site for a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> According to the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, it was initially established as a 60-bed facility.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

The hospital was later reorganised as '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital#Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital|Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital]]'''. The college's hospital profile describes it as a 94-bed facility associated with the J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.<ref name="JBRHospitalProfile">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbrsamch.org.in/Infrustrcture/177/
|title=Hospital Infrastructure
|publisher=J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital
|access-date=24 June 2026
}}</ref>

{{clear}}

== Recognition ==

[[File:Statue of Jamini Bhushan Ray at J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.png|thumb|right|alt=Marble bust of Jamini Bhushan Ray displayed at the J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Marble bust of Ayurvedic physician and medical educator Jamini Bhushan Ray at the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]] in Kolkata.]]

A street in Kolkata, '''Jamini Kaviraj Row''', was named in Ray's honour.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="JBRayRecognition">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbray.org/collections/recognition
|title=Memory and Recognition
|website=JBRay.org
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>

The [[Ministry of AYUSH]] commemorated Ray's birth anniversary through official social-media posts in 2021, 2022, 2025 and 2026.<ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2021">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1410457649242542084
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2021
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2022">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1542846878408396801
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2022
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2025">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/1939974273562820643
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2025
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2026">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/2072275834409554018
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2026
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) includes Ray in its ''Documentation of Life Profiles of Luminaries in the Field of Ayurveda'' initiative and hosts a biographical profile of him as part of its Luminaries of Ayurveda collection.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== See also ==

* [[Ayurveda]]
* [[Swadeshi movement]]
* [[Gananath Sen]]
* [[Vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier]]
* [[Hakim Ajmal Khan]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite report
|title=A Short Report on the Growth & Development of Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya & Ayurveda Aragyashala
|date=7 January 1953
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Majumdar
|first1=R. C.
|author-link1=R. C. Majumdar
|last2=Raychaudhuri
|first2=H. C.
|author-link2=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri
|last3=Datta
|first3=Kalikinkar
|title=An Advanced History of India
|publisher=Macmillan
|isbn=978-0-333-90298-1
}}

* {{Cite report
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part I
|date=October 1930
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part II
|date=May 1931
}}

* {{Cite book
|editor-last=Singh
|editor-first=P.
|title=Nikhil Bharatvarshiya Ayurveda Mahamandal ka Rajat Jayanti Granth
|volume=I
|location=Benares
|year=1935
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Palit
|first1=Chittabrata
|last2=Dutta
|first2=Achintya Kumar
|title=History of Medicine in India: The Medical Encounter
|isbn=978-81-7835-323-4
|page=228
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yz-zE8waQukC&pg=PA228
|url-access=limited
}}

== External links ==

* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf ''A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach''] by M. N. Pal (1964), biographical account
* [https://jbrsamch.org.in/ J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital], official website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20251007132215/https://getbengal.com/details/j-b-roy-the-forgotten-founder-of-asias-first-ayurvedic-college-in-calcutta ''Dr. J. B. Ray, the forgotten founder of Asia's first Ayurvedic College in Calcutta''] at ''Get Bengal'' (archived)
* [https://opiniontimes.in/doctors-day-yamini-bhusan-roy-ayurved-j-b-roy-state-ayurved-medical-college-and-hospital/ ''আয়ুর্বেদের জনক, অপ্রকাশিত যামিনী''] at ''Opinion Times'' {{in lang|bn}}
* [https://madhyom.com/kaviraj-jamini-bhushan-roy-an-eminent-ayurveda-scholar-and-philanthropist-founded-j-b-roy-state-ayurvedic-medical-college-and-hospital ''অ্যালোপ্যাথি ছেড়ে আয়ুর্বেদ! নতুন পথের দিশারী কবিরাজ যামিনীভূষণ রায়''] at ''Madhyom'' {{in lang|bn}}

{{Ayurveda}}
{{Bengal Renaissance}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Jamini Bhushan}}

[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Ayurvedacharyas]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Sanskrit scholars from Bengal]]
[[Category:The Sanskrit College and University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian medical doctors]]

Jamini Bhushan Ray

2026-09-25T00:23:40Z

DocumentedPast: Edited article on Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray using sourced material from the English Wikipedia article "Jamini Bhushan Ray"; attribution in edit summary and source article history.

{{Short description|Indian physician}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jamini Bhushan Ray
| native_name = যামিনী ভূষণ রায়
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray.png
| image_upright = 1.15
| alt = Portrait of Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray
| caption = Portrait of Ray
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|7|1}}
| birth_place = [[Khulna]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1926|8|11|1879|7|1}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| occupation = Ayurvedic physician Medical educator Sanskrit scholar
| education = [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]] [[Calcutta Medical College]]
| known_for = Founding the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] Modernising Ayurvedic education in Bengal
| spouse = Saroj Bala Devi
| children = 6
| website = {{URL|https://jbray.org}}
}}

'''Jamini Bhushan Ray''' ({{langx|bn|যামিনী ভূষণ রায়}}; 1 July 1879 (17 [[Asharh]] 1286 [[Bengali calendar|BS]]) – 11 August 1926 (26 [[Srabon]] 1333 [[Bengali calendar|BS]])) was an Indian Ayurvedic physician, Sanskrit scholar, educator, and philanthropist.<ref name="Samsad">{{Cite book
|editor=Subodh Chandra Sengupta
|title=সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান
|trans-title=Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan
|edition=Revised 3rd
|publisher=Sahitya Samsad
|language=bn
|chapter=যামিনীভূষণ রায়
|date=1976
|pages=429–430
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.458268/page/428/mode/2up
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref> He founded the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]] in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] in 1916 and established the Vaidyaraj Pharmacy, both of which formed part of his efforts to modernise Ayurvedic education and pharmaceutical practice during the late [[British Raj|colonial period]]. Contemporary scholarship identifies him as an important figure in the revival of Ayurveda in Bengal through the development of educational institutions, pharmaceutical enterprises and professional organisations.<ref name="JRAS2024">{{cite journal
|last1=Bhushan
|first1=Shakti
|last2=Saha
|first2=Suparna
|last3=Panja
|first3=Asit Kumar
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Roy: The man who led the Ayurveda renaissance in Bengal
|journal=Journal of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|year=2024
|volume=8
|issue=Suppl 1
|pages=S43–S47
|doi=10.4103/jras.jras_364_23
|doi-access=free
|url=https://www.ovid.com/jnls/jras/fulltext/10.4103/jras.jras_364_23~kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy-the-man-who-led-the-ayurveda
}}</ref>

Trained in both Sanskrit scholarship and Western medicine, Ray advocated the systematic study of Ayurveda and promoted formal education, clinical training and scholarly publication alongside its classical traditions.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

== Early life and education ==

Ray was born in Poyogram village in the [[Khulna District]] of the [[Bengal Presidency]], then part of [[British India]] (now [[Bangladesh]]). He was the son of the Ayurvedic physician Panchanan Ray, who was known by the honorific title ''Kavichintamani''.<ref name="Samsad" /> After receiving his early education in his native village, he moved to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] for higher studies and attended South Suburban School in [[Bhowanipore]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|pages=44–47
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="Prohor"/> While attending the school, he lived in a rented house in the neighbourhood.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray studied at [[Sanskrit College and University|Sanskrit College, Calcutta]], where he earned a B.A. degree in [[Sanskrit]]. While pursuing an M.A. degree in Sanskrit and medical studies at [[Calcutta Medical College]], he continued to study Ayurveda under his father, Kaviraj Panchanan Ray.<ref name="Samsad"/><ref name="Prohor">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250814084305/https://www.prohor.in/jamini-bhushan-roy-the-founder-of-the-first-ayurvedic-hospital-of-asia
|archive-date=14 August 2025
|url-status=dead
|title=এশিয়ার প্রথম আয়ুর্বেদিক কলেজ কলকাতাতেই, বিস্মৃতপ্রায় প্রতিষ্ঠাতা যামিনীভূষণ
|website=Prohor
|language=bn
|access-date=25 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray obtained an M.A. degree in Sanskrit, for which he received a medal.<ref name="Samsad"/> He graduated with a [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery|Bachelor of Medicine]] (M.B.) degree in 1905 and was awarded a gold medal.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Prohor"/> Following graduation, he practised obstetrics and gynaecology before devoting himself entirely to Ayurveda.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/> Although he had opportunities to enter government medical service under the British administration, Ray declined them in favour of practising Ayurveda.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray completed his Ayurvedic training under Mahamahopadhyay Bijoy Ratna Sen and subsequently served as Kaviraj at the Bowbazar Marwari Hospital.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Vaidyaraj Pharmacy and standardisation of Ayurvedic medicine ==

Among Ray's institutional initiatives was the establishment of the '''Vaidyaraj Pharmacy'''.<ref name="JRAS2024" /><ref name="IndianEmbassyBern">{{Cite web
|url=https://www.indembassybern.gov.in/content/16030874512.pdf
|title=International Day of Yoga 2020
|publisher=Embassy of India, Bern
|date=2020
|page=11
|format=PDF
|access-date=17 July 2026
}}</ref> Located at 46 Beadon Street in Calcutta, the enterprise manufactured and distributed Ayurvedic medicines using systematic methods of preparation and quality control.<ref name="ChopraCommittee1948">{{Cite report
|title=Report of the Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine (Chopra Committee)
|volume=II
|publisher=Ministry of Health, Government of India
|year=1948
|page=180
|url=https://ia902900.us.archive.org/13/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.112421/2015.112421.Report-Of-The-Committee-On-Indigenous-Systems-Of-Medicine--Volii_text.pdf
|access-date=20 July 2026
}}</ref>

Such initiatives formed part of the broader institutionalisation and modernisation of Ayurveda during the colonial period. Through pharmaceutical production, standardisation of [[pharmaceutical formulation|formulations]] and dissemination of Ayurvedic literature, Ray and other reformers sought to place Ayurveda within increasingly organised educational and clinical settings.<ref name="JRAS2024" />

Medicines produced by the pharmacy were also distributed free of charge to poor patients.<ref name="Prohor"/>

== Founder of Ashtanga Ayurveda College ==

[[File:Ashtanga Ayurveda Hospital, Raja Dinendra Street, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|right|alt=Historic three-storey hospital building at the Raja Dinendra Street campus in Kolkata|Historic view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital]], Kolkata, in 1964.]]

In 1916, Ray founded the '''Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital''' in Calcutta.<ref name="JRAS2024" /> Initially established in a rented house at 29 Fariapukur Street in north Calcutta, the college admitted twelve students in its first intake.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="Editorial1964">{{cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=bn
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref> Tuition, board and lodging were provided without charge.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Ray sought to place Ayurvedic education within an organised collegiate setting, with specialist instructors and systematic teaching. The curriculum provided instruction in all eight classical branches of Ayurveda (''Ashtanga''), together with practical clinical training through an attached teaching hospital.<ref name="Premananda1964">{{cite web
|title=Address by Kaviraj Premananda Kavyatirtha at Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda College Reunion
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Address_of_Kaviraj_Premananda_Kavyatirtha_at_Jamini_Bhushan_Ashtanga_Ayurveda_College_Reunion.pdf
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|publisher=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya 20th Reunion Committee of 1964
|date=15 May 1964
|access-date=11 July 2026
}}</ref> Ray served as the institution's first principal, with Biraja Charan Gupta as vice-principal.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

[[File:J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata.png|thumb|left|220px|alt=Present-day view of the courtyard of J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata|Present-day view of the Raja Dinendra Street campus of the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]], which evolved from the ''Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala'' founded by Jamini Bhushan Ray in 1916.]]

An outpatient dispensary was established alongside the college and soon treated about 100 patients daily.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> The institution also provided free medical treatment to poor patients, with Ray reportedly attending daily to treat them.<ref name="Prohor"/>

Ray introduced practical instruction in subjects including surgery, obstetrics, toxicology and medical jurisprudence alongside the classical Ayurvedic curriculum.<ref name="Premananda1964" />

The institution was subsequently registered as a public institution and placed under an executive committee; its first executive committee dates from 1919, with Krishna Das Bandyopadhyay serving as secretary.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

The institution later evolved into the '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]'''. A Bengali biographical dictionary records its historical name as ''Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya o Ayurvediya Arogyashala''.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Presidency of the All India Ayurvedic Conference ==

[[File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - opening panel - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916.png|thumb|left|220px|link=File:The All-India Ayurvedic Conference - Behar Herald, 1 April 1916 - restored reading edition.png|alt=Opening panel of a 1916 Behar Herald newspaper report on the Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference|Opening panel of the restored Behar Herald report on the 1915 Seventh All-India Ayurvedic Conference. Click to view the complete four-panel reading edition.]]

In 1915 Ray was elected president of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference held in [[Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]).<ref name="Conference1915">{{Cite book
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}</ref>

Contemporary commentary on Ray's presidential address described him as combining the medical traditions of East and West and praised his efforts to reconcile classical Ayurvedic learning with modern scientific medicine.<ref name="BeharHerald1916">{{Cite news
|title=The All-India Ayurvedic Conference
|newspaper=Behar Herald
|date=1 April 1916
|pages=1–2
|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Behar_Herald_01-04-1916.pdf
|access-date=26 June 2026
}}</ref>

Ray emphasised collective rather than individual efforts for the advancement of Ayurveda. He presented the conference as evidence of a wider revival of interest in indigenous medicine and urged that Ayurveda be developed in a "truly scientific spirit".<ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

In his presidential address, Ray advocated preserving Ayurveda's classical foundations while strengthening scientific education, including the study of anatomy, dissection, surgery and clinical practice.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="BeharHerald1916"/>

{{clear}}

== Evidence before the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine ==

During the 1921–1923 inquiry of the Madras Presidency's Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine, Ray submitted written evidence and was interviewed in Calcutta by its touring subcommittee. The subcommittee also inspected the Ashtanga Ayurvedic College. The report identified Ray and [[Gananath Sen]] as practitioners proficient in both Ayurveda and Western medicine and drew on their evidence in its discussion of diagnosis and treatment.<ref name="UsmanCommittee">{{Cite report
|author=Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|title=Report of the Committee on the Indigenous Systems of Medicine
|publisher=Government Press
|location=Madras
|year=1923
|url=https://archive.org/details/b32176946_0001
|access-date=21 July 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|pp=50–61, 99, 103}}

In his evidence, Ray attributed the decline of Ayurvedic surgery partly to the inaccessibility of Sanskrit medical texts and the scarcity of competent teachers, but maintained that the discipline could be revived through research and systematic investigation. He described Ayurvedic diagnosis as combining observation through the senses and patient interrogation with consideration of a patient's constitution, environment, season and the progression of disease.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|pp=2–3, 50–53, 59–61, 73–74}}

== Association with Mahatma Gandhi ==

[[File:Mahatma-Gandhi, studio, 1931.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Studio portrait of Mahatma Gandhi wearing a white shawl and round spectacles|[[Mahatma Gandhi]], who laid the foundation stone of the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital on 6 May 1925.]]

On 6 May 1925, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] laid the foundation stone of the new building of the Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya in Calcutta.<ref name="CWMG">{{cite book
|last=Gandhi
|first=M. K.
|author-link=Mahatma Gandhi
|chapter=Speech at Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya
|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi
|volume=27
|date=1968
|orig-date=6 May 1925
|publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India
|chapter-url=https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/cwmg_volume_thumbview/Mjc=#page/74/mode/2up
|via=Gandhi Heritage Portal
|access-date=15 July 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JRAS2024"/>

In his address, Gandhi called for greater humility, honesty and scientific inquiry among [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] and [[Unani medicine|Unani]] practitioners. He criticised exaggerated medical claims and objectionable advertising by practitioners of indigenous medicine, while describing the Vidyalaya itself as a "noble institution".<ref name="CWMG"/>

Scholar Shambhu Prasad places the address within Gandhi's broader attempt to reform Ayurveda from within, arguing that Gandhi sought greater honesty, humility and research among Ayurvedic practitioners rather than rejection of the tradition itself.<ref name="Prasad2001">{{cite journal
|last=Prasad
|first=Shambhu
|title=Towards an Understanding of Gandhi's Views on Science
|journal=Economic and Political Weekly
|volume=36
|issue=39
|date=29 September 2001
|pages=3721–3732
|jstor=4411167
}}</ref>

== Philanthropy ==

Ray provided substantial financial and property support to the Ashtanga Ayurveda College and Hospital. According to a biographical account by M. N. Pal published in the institution's 1964 commemorative volume, Ray contributed ₹70,000 towards the construction of its buildings.<ref name="Pal1964">{{cite book
|last=Pal
|first=M. N.
|chapter=A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach
|title=J.B. Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Ayurvediya Arogyasala Commemorative Booklet
|publisher=Jubilee Celebration Committee
|location=Calcutta
|year=1964
|pages=44–47
|chapter-url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>{{rp|p=2}}

Before his death in August 1926, Ray also bequeathed property to the institution in his will. The bequests comprised thirteen cottahs of land at Ballygunge, six cottahs on Grey Street, twelve bighas at Patipukur together with his garden house there, and health recovery houses at Kurseong and Ranchi.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

The Patipukur property subsequently became the site of a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} A separate commemorative history records that [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/>

Separately, ''Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' records that Ray donated ₹200,000 towards Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya on the day before his death.<ref name="Samsad"/>

== Publications and scholarship ==

[[File:Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya by Jamini Bhushan Ray – title page (1920).png|thumb|right|alt=Title page of Jamini Bhushan Ray's 1920 medical book Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya|Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''), published in Calcutta in 1920.]]

Ray was a Sanskrit scholar and author whose medical writings covered diagnosis, diseases of the ear, nose and throat, paediatrics, obstetrics and toxicology.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

Ray was elected a Fellow of the [[University of Calcutta]], served as an examiner for [[Banaras Hindu University]] and other universities and educational boards, and was a member of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Royal Asiatic Society]].<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/>

The 1923 report of the Madras Committee on Indigenous Systems of Medicine listed five Sanskrit works by Ray among Ayurvedic texts then commonly used as textbooks: ''Roga Vinischayah'', ''Kumaratantram'', ''Vishatantram'', ''Prasutitantram'' and ''Shalakyatantram''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}

Among his published works were:

* ''Roga Vinischaya'' (diagnosis), published in an edition titled ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' (''Diseases – Their Origin and Diagnosis''). A profile published by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) describes the work as addressing gaps in classical descriptions of diseases that could present difficulties in their clinical application.<ref name="CCRASLuminary">{{Cite web
|url=https://luminaries.ccras.res.in/kaviraj-jamini-bhusan-roy/
|title=Kaviraj Jamini Bhusan Ray
|website=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|publisher=Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
|access-date=22 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="RBU2023">{{Cite report
|title=University Research Programme (URP): Executive Summary 2022–2023
|publisher=Rabindra Bharati University
|year=2023
|pages=148–149
|url=https://www.rbu.ac.in/home/avz9s6ve0gq6/public_html/ckfinder/userfiles/files/URP%20Executive%20Summary%202022-2023.pdf
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/NimB_prati-sanskrita-roga-binischaya-by-jamini-bhushan-ray-calcutta-1920-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=Prati-Saṃskṛta Roga Vinischaya by Kaviraj Jamini Bhushan Ray (Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College, 1920)
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=10 July 2026
}}</ref>
* ''Shalakyatantram'', on diseases of the ear, nose, throat and mouth.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Kumaratantram'', on children's diseases.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Prasutitantram'', on obstetrics.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}
* ''Vishatantram'', on toxicology; an English-language work was published as ''A Manual of Toxicology''.<ref name="UsmanCommittee"/>{{rp|p=135}}<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/zwNL_a-manual-of-toxicology-by-kaviraj-jaimini-bhushan-ray-1920-calcutta-ayurvedic-medical-college
|title=A Manual of Toxicology by Kaviraj Jaimini Bhushan Ray, 1920, Calcutta Ayurvedic Medical College
|website=Internet Archive
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The title page of Ray's 1920 ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya'' identifies the Ayurvedic Medical College at 29 Fariapukur Street as its publisher.<ref>{{Cite web
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prati_Sanskrita_Roga_Binischaya_by_Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_%E2%80%93_title_page_(1920).png
|title=Title page of ''Prati Sanskrita Roga Binischaya''
|website=Wikimedia Commons
|date=1920
|access-date=19 July 2026
}}</ref>

Ray also published a Bengali work titled ''Swastha Niti'' and was involved in publishing the Bengali monthly journal ''Ayurveda'', which disseminated information about Ayurveda and other medical subjects.<ref name="Jubilee1964pp44-47"/><ref name="CCRASLuminary"/> According to CCRAS, the journal was published under the editorial guidance of Kaviraj Srivirajcharan Gupta Kavibhushan, with Ray serving as co-editor.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== Influence beyond Bengal ==

The Ashtanga Ayurveda College attracted students from beyond Bengal. M. N. Pal's 1964 biographical account of Ray records that pupils came from different parts of India as well as Nepal and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to study at the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}}

Among the students associated with the college was the Sri Lankan Ayurvedic physician [[G. P. Wickramarachchi]], who studied there during the early twentieth century.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> He later played a prominent role in the development of Ayurvedic education in Sri Lanka.<ref name="JRAS2024"/>

== Personal life ==

Ray was married to Saroj Bala Devi, with whom he had six children. According to the CCRAS biographical profile, two of his youngest sons died while still in their late teens.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

His surviving sons Bijoy Bhushan and Amar Bhushan later practised Ayurvedic medicine at the institution founded by their father. Amar Bhushan Ray subsequently served as superintendent of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital, which had been established on land bequeathed by his father.<ref name="Jubilee1964p42">{{Cite book
|title=Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya and Arogyashala: Silver Jubilee Commemorative Souvenir
|publisher=Silver Jubilee Celebration Committee
|year=1964
|language=en
|page=42
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JBRay-Ayurvedic-College-Commemorative-Booklet-1964.pdf
|access-date=6 July 2026
}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==

[[File:Photograph of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Portrait of physician and statesman Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy|[[Bidhan Chandra Roy|Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy]], who laid the foundation stone of the Patipukur Tuberculosis Hospital on land bequeathed by Jamini Bhushan Ray.]]

Ray died in Calcutta on 11 August 1926 at the age of forty-seven.<ref name="Samsad"/>

Modern scholarship emphasises Ray's role in the institutional development of Ayurveda in Bengal through his educational and pharmaceutical initiatives.<ref name="JRAS2024"/> The institution he founded continues as the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]]. CCRAS also includes Ray in its biographical series on luminaries of Ayurveda.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

[[File:Patipukur T.B. Hospital, Kolkata, 1964.png|thumb|left|alt=Historic hospital building at Patipukur in Kolkata in 1964|Historic view of Patipukur T.B. Hospital, later reorganised as Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital, in 1964.]]

Ray's bequest of twelve bighas of land at Patipukur, together with his garden house there, subsequently provided the site for a tuberculosis hospital attached to the institution.<ref name="Pal1964"/>{{rp|p=2}} [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]] laid the foundation stone of the tuberculosis hospital in 1933.<ref name="Editorial1964"/> According to the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, it was initially established as a 60-bed facility.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

The hospital was later reorganised as '''[[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital#Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital|Patipukur Ayurvedic Hospital]]'''. The college's hospital profile describes it as a 94-bed facility associated with the J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.<ref name="JBRHospitalProfile">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbrsamch.org.in/Infrustrcture/177/
|title=Hospital Infrastructure
|publisher=J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital
|access-date=24 June 2026
}}</ref>

{{clear}}

== Recognition ==

[[File:Statue of Jamini Bhushan Ray at J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital.png|thumb|right|alt=Marble bust of Jamini Bhushan Ray displayed at the J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital|Marble bust of Ayurvedic physician and medical educator Jamini Bhushan Ray at the [[J.B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital]] in Kolkata.]]

A street in Kolkata, '''Jamini Kaviraj Row''', was named in Ray's honour.<ref name="JRAS2024"/><ref name="JBRayRecognition">{{Cite web
|url=https://jbray.org/collections/recognition
|title=Memory and Recognition
|website=JBRay.org
|access-date=21 September 2026
}}</ref>

The [[Ministry of AYUSH]] commemorated Ray's birth anniversary through official social-media posts in 2021, 2022, 2025 and 2026.<ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2021">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1410457649242542084
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2021
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2022">{{Cite web
|url=https://twitter.com/moayush/status/1542846878408396801
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2022
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2025">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/1939974273562820643
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2025
|access-date=21 June 2026
}}</ref><ref name="JBRayAyushMinistry2026">{{Cite web
|url=https://x.com/moayush/status/2072275834409554018
|title=Ministry of AYUSH commemorative post
|website=Ministry of AYUSH
|date=1 July 2026
|access-date=7 July 2026
}}</ref>

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) includes Ray in its ''Documentation of Life Profiles of Luminaries in the Field of Ayurveda'' initiative and hosts a biographical profile of him as part of its Luminaries of Ayurveda collection.<ref name="CCRASLuminary"/>

== See also ==

* [[Ayurveda]]
* [[Swadeshi movement]]
* [[Gananath Sen]]
* [[Vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier]]
* [[Hakim Ajmal Khan]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite report
|title=A Short Report on the Growth & Development of Jamini Bhushan Ashtanga Ayurveda Vidyalaya & Ayurveda Aragyashala
|date=7 January 1953
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Majumdar
|first1=R. C.
|author-link1=R. C. Majumdar
|last2=Raychaudhuri
|first2=H. C.
|author-link2=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri
|last3=Datta
|first3=Kalikinkar
|title=An Advanced History of India
|publisher=Macmillan
|isbn=978-0-333-90298-1
}}

* {{Cite report
|title=Report on the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Ayurvedic Conference
|location=Madras
|date=December 1915
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part I
|date=October 1930
}}

* {{Cite book
|title=Ayurveda Prachar
|volume=Part II
|date=May 1931
}}

* {{Cite book
|editor-last=Singh
|editor-first=P.
|title=Nikhil Bharatvarshiya Ayurveda Mahamandal ka Rajat Jayanti Granth
|volume=I
|location=Benares
|year=1935
}}

* {{Cite book
|last1=Palit
|first1=Chittabrata
|last2=Dutta
|first2=Achintya Kumar
|title=History of Medicine in India: The Medical Encounter
|isbn=978-81-7835-323-4
|page=228
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yz-zE8waQukC&pg=PA228
|url-access=limited
}}

== External links ==

* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jamini_Bhushan_Ray_-_A_Pioneer_of_Neo-Ayurvedic_Approach_by_M._N._Pal_(1964).pdf ''A Pioneer of Neo-Ayurvedic Approach''] by M. N. Pal (1964), biographical account
* [https://jbrsamch.org.in/ J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital], official website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20251007132215/https://getbengal.com/details/j-b-roy-the-forgotten-founder-of-asias-first-ayurvedic-college-in-calcutta ''Dr. J. B. Ray, the forgotten founder of Asia's first Ayurvedic College in Calcutta''] at ''Get Bengal'' (archived)
* [https://opiniontimes.in/doctors-day-yamini-bhusan-roy-ayurved-j-b-roy-state-ayurved-medical-college-and-hospital/ ''আয়ুর্বেদের জনক, অপ্রকাশিত যামিনী''] at ''Opinion Times'' {{in lang|bn}}
* [https://madhyom.com/kaviraj-jamini-bhushan-roy-an-eminent-ayurveda-scholar-and-philanthropist-founded-j-b-roy-state-ayurvedic-medical-college-and-hospital ''অ্যালোপ্যাথি ছেড়ে আয়ুর্বেদ! নতুন পথের দিশারী কবিরাজ যামিনীভূষণ রায়''] at ''Madhyom'' {{in lang|bn}}

{{Ayurveda}}
{{Bengal Renaissance}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Jamini Bhushan}}

[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Ayurvedacharyas]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Sanskrit scholars from Bengal]]
[[Category:The Sanskrit College and University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian medical doctors]]