Pt. Shankar Daji Pade Shastri

The All India Ayurvedic Congress was established by Vaidya Shankar Daji Pade Shastri on 24th May, 1907 at Nasik in a meeting which was attended by good number of Vaidyas and scholars. He was a great scholar of Ayurveda and Sanskrit. His father Pt. Daji Pade Shastri was a great scholar of Astrology. His forefather were scholar of Ved and Raj Pandit of Peshwas. Pt. Shakar Daji Pade Shastri was born on 30th March, 1867 in Nagpara area of Mumbai. He studied, in addition to Ayurveda Nyaya, Vyakarana and Meemanasha also. He had good knowledge of Marathi and Hindi also. He started a monthly magazine of Ayurveda named ‘Rajvaidya’ in the year 1883 and ‘Arya-bhishak’ in 1888. He also edited a Hindi magazine ‘Sadvaidya Kaustubh’ in 1904.

The then King of Baroda Maharaja Gayakwad was his great supporter & all praise for him. He started an Ayurvedic school in 1906 named as Sayaji Rao Ayurveda Vidyapeeth. During the great conclave of Sanskrit and oriental science All India Ayurvedic Congress was established by him in 1907 which was presided over by Kunwar Sarayu Prasad Narayan Singh ji. A branch of Ayurvedic Congress was established by him in Allahabad in 1908 and requested Pt. Jagannath Prasad Shukla to organize a conference of Ayurvedic physicians of North India. The second annual session of All India Ayurvedic Congress was held in Panwel near Mumbai in 1908. He desired to conduct third session of All India Ayurvedic Congress at Varanasi in 1909 but died on 30th March, 1909. He donated his entire wealth of Rs. 40,000/- in those days to All India Ayurvedic Congress for furtherance of the cause of Ayurveda as a whole and Ayurvedic Congress in particular.

Entire Ayurvedic world is grateful to him for this great work. The Centenary Celebrations of All India Ayurvedic Congress was held in New Delhi a few years ago in which he was remembered and praised by thousands of delegates.