Ulpotha is a traditional working village cradled on the one side by low mountains and a lotus ringed lake, and on the other by tiny emerald green paddy fields. Our focus, at present, is on the restoration of an ageless agricultural way of life including bio-diverse organic farming and reforestation of the land and its immediate surroundings.
Guests are welcome to Ulpotha and those who come will find a natural sanctuary of exceptional beauty where the main activity is simply relaxing in its remarkable atmosphere of peace and calm. However, for those more purposeful in nature, Ayurveda therapies and Yoga classes are available. The Ayurveda is administered by Dr Srilal Mudunkothge, an acclaimed practitioner of this ancient, holistic medical art, while the Yoga classes are led by some of the world's leading Yoga teachers.
Ulpotha has recently introduced an exciting program of Ayurveda treatments since it possesses the ideal climate and environment for the practise of this deeply traditional art. Until recently, Ulpotha had offered non-specific and general native treatments such as steam and infused water baths. The main reason for the absence of Ayurveda in Ulpotha was that the founders wanted to wait until the right person crossed their path to carry out what is a very specialised therapeutic practise. Ayurveda does not rely purely on knowledge, but includes the spiritual and the intangible in a holistic approach to good health and healing.
Hence, when the founders of Ulpotha met Dr. Srilal Mudunkothge B.A.M.S., they believed they had found the person they could place their confidence and trust in to establish an ayurvedic practise in Ulpotha. They felt that his qualifications and credentials, combined with his understanding of the profound importance that a healthy and natural environment has to the process of healing, make him the ideal practitioner to re-introduce Ayurveda to Ulpotha.
As an integral part of the arrangements made with Dr. Srilal, a local Ayurvedic clinic was established in August, 2005, to treat local villagers free of charge. This initiative, which includes free medicines, takes us back to the traditional way Ayurveda was dispensed, where patients rarely if ever paid in cash for the medical care they received. Instead they would make a symbolic offering of betel leaves to the doctor at the time of consultation and make their own services in kind available to the doctor.
Ayurveda Treatment Programmes
The primary aim of ayurveda is to balance the body’s energies and thus restore one’s health and vitality. Ulpotha is a particularly suitable place in which to undergo ayurvedic treatment, as the food and the environment complement the therapies and serve to underscore the holistic approach of AYURVEDA itself.
Subject to availability, all guests may consult Dr. Srilal, Ulpotha’s resident ayurvedic doctor, to learn about their state of health from an ayurvedic perspective or to simply satisfy their curiosity. This first consultation is free.
If a treatment programme is desired, Dr. Srilal will prepare a personalized detoxification and rejuvenation treatment plan for each individual. Central to the drawing up of a program is the consultation. Through this the doctor will get a sense of what imbalances are present, what type of body type is involved and which of the therapies described below need to be administered.
The Ayurveda programmes begin with detoxification therapies, which consist of preparatory and specialized elimination treatments. Preparatory treatments are called oleation and fomentation therapies and consist of oil applications, massage, steam and medicinal bath therapies. Specialised elimination therapies on the other hand consist of emesis, purgation and inhalation treatments among others. All of these are used to bring the body’s energies into balance, though not all of them will be necessary in all cases.
Once a balance is achieved, nourishing therapies are administered to maintain that balance. These rejuvenation treatments consist of traditional ayurvedic remedies using organic ingredients.
What You Can Expect...
All treatments, regardless of the personalized elements of a treatment that stem from a personal consultation, contain preparatory and elimination therapies. The preparatory therapies are the ones everyone likes and most ayurveda is known for - massages, oil applications, steam baths, saunas and herbal baths. Elimination therapies on the other hand, are the ones that some - if not most - people will find a little bit more challenging to accept. They consist of what is more commonly known as panchakarma (ie. the five specialized elimination therapies): emesis (vomiting), purgation, inhalation, enemas and blood-letting.
If a treatment is short in length, say one week or ten days, then you only have enough time for preparatory treatments that would support inhalation as an elimination therapy. If you have two weeks, then you can also undergo purgation. For emesis, enemas and blood-letting you need at least three weeks and ideally four weeks. However, the consultation is critical to determine which of the elimination therapies are required. If someone is particularly weak, then they will be subject to much more of the preparatory treatments and very little of the elimination therapies regardless of how long a program they have chosen. In other words, while you need to be on a long program to get into say emesis or enemas, it's not necessarily the case that you will definitely be subject to them if you choose a three or four week program if the consultation determines otherwise.
For the one week and ten day programs, guests will receive treatments every day. Each day will consist of roughly two hours of treatments. The two week program will have one or two rest days, the three week will have two or three rest days and the four week will have three or four rest days.
If we take an example of a one week program, the first day will consist of a full head and face and body massage (superficial tissue, or relaxing massage) followed by a herbal bath. Guests will also be given appropriate remedies to take, starting the first day for each day of their treatment - these remedies are meant to facilitate the treatments being received. The second day will consist of intensive, deep tissue body massage (no head and face) followed by a sauna or steam bath. The third day will consist of a relaxing body massage followed by shirodara oil application. The fourth day will consist of an inhalation therapyaccompanied by a head and face massage and a face steam. The fifth day will be a sarvangadara oil treatment (from a layman's terms, this is a shirodara but one for the whole body) followed by a steam bath. The sixth day will be a full body massage carried out using poultices made of a special milk rice made using medicinal decoctions followed by a warm water bath. The seventh day is a herbal facial treatment consisting of cleansing scrub, face steam, massage and herbal pack.
Treatments will be scheduled either in the morning or in the afternoon. Guests will have the rest of each day to hang out and do other things, including the optional yoga classes. Guests having treatment will be able to attend at least one yoga class a day. Sometimes they may prefer to just relax after treatments which is fine. The doctor says the more relaxing the yoga the better, which means astanga yoga would be better avoided.
