Bengaluru: When cases of coronavirus, the virus that has killed more than 3,000 people in China, were first reported in India, the AYUSH Ministry advised citizens to use homoeopathy to prevent infection.

A system of alternative medicine, homoeopathy courts deep popularity in India, so much so that many are known to believe that it's an Indian system. According to the government, it's the second most popular form of medicine in the country with as much as 10 per cent of the population relying on it.

It claims to treat diseases for which allopathy, or Western medicine, currently offers no cure — from diabetes and psoriasis to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). 

Among followers, it is seen as a form of natural therapy, invoking a sense of Eastern mysticism with its promise of painless treatment.