As with any living tradition, Ayurveda in Kerala has been a meeting point of different cultures and their spiritualities. One such fusion, rich and unique in every way, has been of Christianity with ayurvedic science and philosophy. Christianity in Kerala is far older than is commonly understood: it reaches back to the time of Christ with the arrival of St. Thomas the Apostle here in 52 A.D. Popular myths and legends here celebrate the life of St. Thomas and his role as a healer. It is maintained that St. Thomas established a dialogue with Ayurvedic healers and practitioners and that his first followers were in fact Namboodri Brahmins of southern Kerala. The ‘synthesis’ of healing approaches and philosophies that resulted from this dialogue had its basis in an authentic experience of spiritual power that went beyond any sectarian traditions and beliefs. At the outset, a synthesis between Christianity and Ayurveda may seem unlikely and even, perhaps, inconceivable. As it turns out, there are profound convergences between Christianity and Ayurveda. Both have healing and revitalization as their main article of faith and of living practice. This healing is seen in broadly wholistic terms and extends beyond the physical body into the psychological, emotional, subtle, and the spiritual levels of being. The effective goal of therapy is a renewal, or revitalization, of ‘Pneuma’, or ‘Prana’ and ‘Ayus’ – the life and soul of breath. To this end, a range of healing practices are brought into play which include, among other things, a rich anointing with oils, use of fresh plants and herb-based medicines, healing touch, deep relaxation, and natural self-purification. Heat, or ‘Spiritos’, is the key to inner and outer cleansings and it is induced as 'a quickening’ agent in restoring health through new life. Both the Christian and the Ayurvedic traditions uphold freedom from affliction and suffering as their fullest, most thoroughgoing, expression of individual healing. This freedom is recovered, or regained, by a concordance between parts of a living whole that is the person and, indeed, between the person and all nature or being. Everything in nature – from the smallest herb or plant - is suffused with spirit and supports or sustains itself through a harmonic flow or ‘exchange’ between living parts. The ancient healers of Kerala, both Christian and Hindu, were witness to a unique eco-system here that sustained itself through cycles of self exchange and through its broader participation in the surrounding systems of the open seas and skies. Their keen observations of the rhythms of nature here and the healing potential of indigenous plants in Kerala allowed them to develop Ayurveda into a living science – a science that is with soul, substance, and timeless spirit.