India, July 12 -- Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh's decision to honour Sushruta reflects a growing recognition that the history of medicine has always been shaped by exchanges across civilizations.

In June this year, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, one of the world's oldest surgical institutions, unveiled a 90-kilogram bronze statue of Maharishi Sushruta in its historic Playfair Auditorium. Cast in Swamimalai, Tamil Nadu, using the traditional lost-wax method, the statue honours a physician whose work laid some of the earliest foundations of surgery. For an institution tracing its origins to the early 16th century, the decision carries considerable symbolic significance. It also serves as a reminder that the history of...