The Gujarat Ayurved University was set up in 1967 after the Gujarat State Legislative Assembly passed an Act in 1965. It is the only statutory University of a distinct standard, committed to the study of Ayurveda and conduct researches on the subject. The administration of the University is looked after by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare both at the central and state level owing to its special status. The campus is in Jamnagar Gujarat spread over thirty-seven acres of land.

The University is an autonomous institution fully financed by the Government of the Gujarat State. The University supervises the management of the Institutes and colleges located in the campus. It also conducts exams and confers degrees and diplomas to the students. The University administers the administrative wing and the centers functioning in the University, constituent institutes and colleges operating in the campus. All the Ayurvedic colleges in the state are affiliated to the University whose exams are conducted by the University.

The University campus consists of a well-equipped central library, which has a collection of more than twenty nine thousand books on various subjects. The University campus has twenty small and big gardens consisting of medicinal plants. These gardens have one hundred and fifty medicinal plants grown for the purpose of teaching and researching. The Gujarat Ayurved University also has an Ayurvedic Pharmacy, which manufactures drugs for the use of University hospitals. The University has a press section which prints various stationery for administrative and academic purposes. The University offers its students, graduate postgraduate and doctoral degrees for various courses like Diploma in Ayurveda, Introductory Course in Ayurveda, Post Graduate Diploma in Medicinal Plants, Bachelor of Pharmacy, Master of Pharmacy, Post Graduate Diploma in Medicinal Plants, and Diploma in Yoga and Naturopathy. The University also conducts diploma and certificate courses for foreign professionals. An International center for Ayurvedic Studies has been set up where students from far and wide like Japan, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Nigeria and Poland have joined different courses.

The various institutes in the campus are Institute for Post Graduate Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, Shri Gulabkunwarba Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya, Institute for Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute for Medicinal Plant Sciences, and Maharishi Patanjali Institute for Yoga & Naturopathy Education and Research. The various center in the campus are International Center for Ayurvedic Studies, Medical Astrology Research Center, Center for In-service Training, Old Age Care Center, Maharishi Atreya AIDS & Cancer Research Center, Department of Continuing Education and Rural Health Care Programme.