Sankara Nethralaya

About Sankara Nethralaya

The largest charitable not-for-profit Eye hospital in India. Sankara Nethralaya, a not-for-profit charitable hospital, embarked on a relentless journey on September 6, 1978 to provide world-class tertiary eye care in India. Its growth since then has been phenomenal — thanks to the unconditional and generous support received from all quarters of society. Today, we have over 80 eye care professionals examining around 1,500 patients and performing around 125 surgeries a day. It was in 1976 when addressing a group of doctors, His Holiness Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, the Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam spoke of the need to create a hospital with a missionary spirit. His words marked the beginning of a long journey to do God's own work. On the command of His Holiness, Dr. Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath, along with a group of philanthropists founded a charitable not-for-profit eye hospital... One that would bring world-class eye care to the people of India. One that would adopt a single standard of care for all, rich or poor. One that would share the fruits of its knowledge and spread its concept of care to distant parts of this country. In a solemn function held at the premises of the Vijaya Hospital with Semmangudi Srinivasa Aiyer offering the prayer, Mrs (Dr) T Agarwal inaugurated the project. On the auspicious day of Vinayaka Chaturthi, the sixth day of September in the year 1978, the hospital came into existence.