: A 40-feet statute of ancient saint Sushruta, regarded as the father of surgery and plastic surgery, was unveiled by the Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre (AIMS) here on Thursday.
The two-tiered concrete statue, by sculptor Chavara Vijayan, shows Sushruta seated in padmasana on a raised pedestal. At its base, there is also a detailed sculpture of the sage performing surgery on a patient, assisted by a team of physicians.
Swami Poornamritananda Puri, general secretary of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math; Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan, honorary director, Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage; Soumini Jain, Mayor, Hibi Eden, MLA; Ambika Sudarshan, Councillor, and Dr. Prem Nair, Medical Director of AIMS, participated. The sculptor was also felicitated during the ceremony. Mr. Nair said, “it is staggering to think that Sushruta was performing surgeries on human body 1,000 years before Hippocrates and 2,000 years before European stalwarts like Celsius and Galen were even born.