Dhanwantari Jayanti 2026: Nepal marks 28th Wellness Day at Ayurveda centres

Nepal marked Dhanwantari Jayanti, the day honouring Dhanvantari, the figure Hindu tradition regards as the originator of Ayurveda, together with its national Wellness Day (Arogyata Diwas) on Saturday, 7 November 2026. Programmes were held across the country at government and private Ayurveda institutions, including the Singha Durbar Vaidyakhana, Ayurveda Hospital Naradevi and the Ayurveda campuses at Kirtipur and Dang. Shyam Babu Yadav, Director General of Nepal's Department of Ayurveda and Alternative Medicine, told the national news agency that programmes had been organised to worship and pray to Lord Dhanvantari. The date, Kartik Krishna Trayodashi, was fixed by Nepal's Calendar Determination Development Committee.

Ayurveda is not only an Indian system. Nepal has a long Ayurveda tradition of its own, a government department for it, state-run Ayurveda hospitals and university-level training, and it shares with India the festival calendar that links Dhanvantari to the Trayodashi of Kartik. Nepal's choice to make the day a national Wellness Day gives that tradition a public-health framing: a day to talk about healthy living and the country's herbal resources, not only a day of worship.

The list of venues shows how the system is organised there. It runs from a traditional Ayurveda pharmacy at the Singha Durbar government complex in Kathmandu, through a government Ayurveda hospital at Naradevi and the Ayurveda campuses at Kirtipur and Dang, to a state herbal company at Koteshwor. Together they cover heritage, hospital care, education and the herbal products industry.

For Indian readers, the one-day gap between the two countries is a reminder of how the traditional calendar works. Festival dates depend on when a lunar day, or tithi, begins and ends, and on rules about which tithi is in force at a given time of day. Calendar authorities in India and Nepal sometimes reach different answers for the same festival, which is why Dhanteras fell on 6 November in India and Dhanwantari Jayanti on 7 November in Nepal this year.

As with any traditional health observance, the day is about tradition and well-being. Claims that particular remedies prevent or cure disease need scientific evidence, and readers should consult a qualified practitioner before using any treatment.

Peepals timeline: Nepal began observing the day as Wellness Day in 1999 (2056 BS). Counting 1999 as the first, the observance on 7 November 2026 is the 28th Wellness Day (2026 − 1999 + 1 = 28). This year's date was set by the national calendar committee as Kartik Krishna Trayodashi, one day after India's Dhanteras on 6 November. Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Ayurveda hospitals, campuses and herbal enterprises in Nepal used the day for worship, public programmes and health awareness, bringing attention to the government's Ayurveda services during the festival season.

Long-term: the observance keeps Ayurveda in Nepal's public-health conversation and highlights a shared South Asian heritage that both Nepal and India promote. It also underlines the region's interest in medicinal plants from the Himalayas as a resource for health and industry.

Who is affected: Ayurveda practitioners, students and patients in Nepal; people of the Nepali and Indian diaspora who follow the festival; and Indian institutions and businesses that work with Nepal on traditional medicine.

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