Bridging Ancient Wisdom and Modern AI Innovation

In the heart of Bangalore, a groundbreaking project is unfolding at ATRIMED, a research-driven life sciences company, where ancient Sanskrit medical texts are being revolutionized through artificial intelligence. This initiative, announced on February 26, 2026, marks a pivotal moment in merging India's rich Ayurvedic heritage with cutting-edge technology. Classical texts, once confined to fragile manuscripts and scholarly interpretations, are now being transformed into searchable, machine-readable datasets. This not only preserves cultural treasures but also accelerates drug discovery by linking traditional formulations to vast molecular libraries.

Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old system of medicine originating from Sanskrit texts like Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, emphasizes holistic healing through plant-based remedies. With an estimated 100,000 Ayurvedic manuscripts scattered across India, digitization efforts are crucial to prevent loss due to decay and inaccessibility. ATRIMED's approach stands out by integrating these with AI for practical applications in modern pharmacology.

ATRI MED's Trailblazing Project Details

ATRI MED, officially Atrimed Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., specializes in plant-based innovations by combining traditional knowledge with biotechnology. Their latest milestone involves decoding medicinal formulations, botanical references, and therapeutic principles from classical Sanskrit sources. These are standardized and mapped to ATRIMED's expansive library of over 500,000 plant-derived molecules—one of the world's largest.

The process employs natural language processing (NLP), where AI parses complex Sanskrit grammar—including sandhi rules (word joining) and vibhakti (case endings)—to extract structured data. This dataset enables in-silico screening, simulating molecular interactions virtually to predict efficacy and safety, slashing traditional lab timelines.

Empowering Women Leaders in Biotech Research

At the helm is Dr. Latha Damle, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, an Ayurvedic physician with postgraduate expertise in plant pharmacology and a fellowship in medicinal chemistry from Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan. With 23+ years of clinical experience, she champions polypharmacology—the synergy of multiple plant biomolecules. Her vision drives a multidisciplinary women-led team of scientists, linguists, bioinformaticians, and data engineers.

This reflects India's STEM landscape, where women comprise 43% of graduates—the highest globally—yet only 14-30% of the workforce, highlighting retention challenges. ATRIMED's model fosters female leadership, from data curation to AI model development, positioning women at the forefront of scientific infrastructure.

Supporting Dr. Damle are founders Dr. Shiban Ganju (Chairman, AIIMS alumnus) and Dr. Hrishikesh Damle (CEO), blending clinical insight with innovation.

The AI Pipeline: Step-by-Step Digitization Process

1. Manuscript Scanning: High-resolution imaging of palm-leaf or paper texts, addressing degradation.
2. OCR Adaptation: Custom AI models trained for Devanagari, Grantha scripts, overcoming challenges like cursive forms and ambiguities.
3. NLP Parsing: Tokenization, lemmatization for Sanskrit's inflectional nature.
4. Knowledge Extraction: Identifying herbs (e.g., Ashwagandha), dosages, indications.
5. Ontological Mapping: Linking to modern databases like PubChem.
6. AI Integration: Machine learning for pattern matching with 500k+ molecules.

This pipeline reduces manual effort by 70%, enabling scalable analysis.Learn more about ATRIMED's research

Transforming Drug Discovery with In-Silico Tools

Traditional drug discovery averages 10-15 years and $2.8 billion; AI cuts this by up to 70% in time and 40% in cost through virtual screening. ATRIMED's platform simulates plant molecule interactions for conditions like chronic pain, aligning with Ayurveda's polyherbal focus.

• Pattern Recognition: AI identifies novel leads from text-molecule cross-references.
• Safety Profiling: Predicts ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity).
• Hypothesis Generation: Prioritizes candidates for wet-lab validation.

India's Ayurveda market, valued at USD 11.8B in 2024, is projected to hit USD 35.7B by 2030, fueling such innovations.

Preserving Sanskrit-Ayurvedic Heritage Amid Risks

With 20,000+ identified Ayurvedic manuscripts, many on perishable palm leaves, digitization combats loss. ATRIMED's effort complements national drives, making knowledge accessible globally.

National Momentum: CCRAS, CSU, and University Collaborations

In January 2026, CCRAS and Central Sanskrit University (CSU) transliterated five rare palm-leaf manuscripts (e.g., Dhanwanthari Chintamani) during a workshop, bridging Ayurveda and Sanskrit scholars. IIT Delhi partners with All India Institute of Ayurveda on AI projects; IIT Guwahati explores rejuvenative drugs.

ATRI MED eyes academic ties, enhancing higher ed research. For faculty roles in AI-Ayurveda, explore higher ed research jobs.

Overcoming Sanskrit Digitization Hurdles

Sanskrit's challenges—ambiguous sandhi, regional scripts, low digitized corpora—demand specialized OCR/NLP. Error propagation risks persist, but hybrid AI-human validation mitigates them.

Photo by Shantanu Kumar on Unsplash

Future Horizons: Global Impact and Scalability

ATRI MED plans broader text inclusion and open collaborations. As India leads AI-traditional medicine fusion (world's first AI library 2025), this could yield plant-based breakthroughs. For aspiring researchers, academic CV tips and rate my professor.

Explore opportunities at India higher ed jobs or global listings.