With an aim to give foreign visitors a taste of famous Kerala massage during the Commonwealth Games, Delhi’s health department had approached Kerala government a couple of months ago for assistance to select masseurs who could be trained in massages that could be used to give relief to tired or injured athletes. Kerala Government, advertised for masseurs & 150 candidates were chosen & trained for games duties.
A team of 150 masseurs trained in therapeutic Kerala ayurvedic massage will cater to around 8,000 sportspersons during the Commonwealth Games. The masseurs, most of whom are either ayurvedic massage therapists or ayurvedic doctors from Kerala, have been selected by the director of Medical Education Ayurveda and principal of Ayurveda Medical College of Trivandrum. They will be now trained in sports injuries by a Pune-based specialist in August.
S Bhattacharjee, director of Delhi Health Services, said the Organizing Committee would need around 120 masseurs while the rest would be kept on standby.
The masseurs will be divided in various teams and will be stationed at the Commonwealth Games Village and event venues. After reaching the capital 10 days before the Games, the masseurs will stay in a hostel facility in Maulana Azad Medical College and Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital complex.
Health minister Kiran Walia said research has shown that masseurs of Indian system of medicine like ayurveda are among the best in the world. She claimed that masseurs specializing in sports-related massages were an important component of the health arrangements for the Games.
