Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria viz., Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas were isolated from rhizosphere soil and roots of ashwagandha plants collected from various locations in Tamil Nadu. The isolated strains were characterized by morphological, physiological and biochemical tests and were examined for nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, phytohormone production, siderophore production and antagonistic activity. A pot culture experiment was conducted to study the effect of inoculation of rhizobacteria viz., Azospirillum lipoferum-AAs-11, Azotobacter-AAz-3, Bacillus-APb-1, and Pseudomonas fluorescens-APs-1 either alone or in combination along with panchakavya spray on rhizosphere microflora of ashwagandha. In general the rhizosphere population of all the organisms increased upto 120 days and then declined. Irrespective of the treatments 3 per cent panchakavya spray increased the rhizosphere population. Combined inoculation of all the four rhizobacteria with panchakavya 3 % spray increased the rhizosphere population of ashwagandha.