I ndian I olklife

A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER FROM NATIONAL FOLKLORE SUPPORT CENTRE

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4 SERIAL NO. 13 APRIL - JUNE 2003

Folk Medicine
and
Biodiversity

BHAISHAJYAGURU, 1
THE BUDDHA OF MEDICINE
 B O A R D O F T R U S T E E S
C H A I R P E R S O N
Komal Kothari
National Folklore Support Centre (NFSC) is a non- Director, Rupayan Sansthan, Folklore Institute of Rajasthan, Jodhpur, Rajasthan
governmental, non-profit organisation, registered in Chennai
dedicated to the promotion of Indian folklore research, education, T R U S T E E S
training, networking and publications. The aim of the centre is to Ajay S. Mehta
integrate scholarship with activism, aesthetic appreciation with Executive Director, National Foundation for India, India Habitat Centre,
Zone 4-A, UG Floor, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
community development, comparative folklore studies with cultural
Ashoke Chatterjee
diversities and identities, dissemination of information with multi- B-1002, Rushin Tower, Behind Someshwar 2, Satellite Road, Ahmedabad
disciplinary dialogues, folklore fieldwork with developmental issues
N. Bhakthavathsala Reddy
and folklore advocacy with public programming events. Folklore Dean, School of Folk and Tribal Lore, Warangal
is a tradition based on any expressive behaviour that brings a
Dadi D. Pudumjee
group together, creates a convention and commits it to cultural Managing Trustee, The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust,
memory. NFSC aims to achieve its goals through cooperative and B2/2211 Vasant Kunj, New Delhi
experimental activities at various levels. NFSC is supported by a Deborah Thiagarajan
grant from the Ford Foundation. President, Madras Craft Foundation, Chennai
Jyotindra Jain
CONTENTS Professor and Dean, School of Arts and Aesthetics,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Editorial.....................................................3
Dohada (Pregnancy Cravings)........................5 Molly Kaushal
Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts,
Hot / Cold ..................................................6 C.V. Mess, Janpath, New Delhi
Dreams.......................................................7
Munira Sen
Indigenous Knowledge Erosion .....................10 Executive Director, Madhyam, Bangalore
Medicinal Plants ..........................................12
K. Ramadas
An Introduction to the Tamil Siddhas...............14 Deputy Director, Regional Resources Centre for Folk Performing Arts, Udupi
Folk Medicinal Wisdom ................................19
P. Subramaniyam
Green Health Boom.......................................21 Director, Centre for Development Research and Training, Chennai
Book Review......................................23 Y. A. Sudhakar Reddy
Review Books ................................................24 Reader, Centre for Folk Culture Studies, S. N. School, Hyderabad

C O V E R I L L U S T R AT I O N Veenapani Chawla
Director, Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Research, Pondicherry
Front: Medicine Buddha or Bhaishajyaguru is considered to
be the physician of human passions, the unfailing EXECUTIVE TRUSTEE AND DIRECTOR
healer of the ills of samsara. He is dark blue in colour and M.D. Muthukumaraswamy
holding a myrobalan (arura) plant in his right hand and a bowl
of amrita medicine in his left hand. Courtesy: A Hand Book of REGIONAL
S TA F F
Tibetan Culture (1993, London, Sydney, Auckland and RESOURCE PERSONS
Johannesburg: Rider) Assistant Directors
V. Jayarajan
T.R. Sivasubramaniam
T H I S I S S U E Administration Kuldeep Kothari
Miriam Nelken Moji Riba
The focus of April – June 2003 issue is on Folk Medicine and K.V.S.L. Narasamamba
Programmes (Volunteer)
Biodiversity. Nima S. Gadhia
Eva Glanzer
Visual motifs courtesy: Sangs-Rgyas Stong: An Introduction to Mahayana Programmes (Volunteer) Parag M. Sarma
Iconography (1988, Gangtok (India): Sikkim Research Institute of Programme Officers (Publications) Sanat Kumar Mitra
Tibetology), and A Hand Book of Tibetan Culture (1993). M. Ramakrishnan Satyabrata Ghosh
Gita Jayaraj Shikha Jhingan
N E X T I S S U E Programme Assistants Susmita Poddar
The theme of the July - September issue of Indian Folklife is Primadonna Khongwir M.N. Venkatesha
Folklore and Biopolitic. The forthcoming issue proposes to explore Rita Deka
how folklore expresses the rich symbolism of the human body Librarian INDIAN FOLKLIFE
that exists as a way for social groups to express about their R. Murugan
EDITORIAL TEAM
relationship to community, nature and state in a hierarchical Archival Assistant
M.D. Muthukumaraswamy
society. Closing date for submission of articles is September Ranga Ranjan Das
Editor
10, 2003. All communications should be addressed to: Volunteer (Research Project)
M. Ramakrishnan
The Editor, Indian Folklife, National Folklore Support Centre, Rengin Aktar Associate Editor
7, 5th Cross Street, Rajalakshmi Nagar, Velachery, Chennai - Support Staff
K. Kamal Ahamed
600 042 (India), Tele/Fax: 91-44-22448589/ 22450553, email: Y. Pavitra Page Layout & Design
info@indianfolklore.org/ muthu@md2.vsnl.net.in/ P.T. Devan
K. Kamal Ahamed
nfsc_india@yahoo.co.in V. Thennarasu
C. Kannan

h t t p : / / w w w . i n d i a n f o l k l o r e . o r g
2 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003

LIGHTING A YERCUM FIBRE WICK
E
veryday as I walk to the Centre for work I
pass through two folk medicine shops in
Velachery, one of the fast growing hi-tech
suburbs of Chennai city. The shops themselves are
semiotic delights as they assemble a wide range of
sacred objects used in worship along with folk
medicine. For the familiar eye the shops represent a
mindset, a worldview and a luxury fast disappearing
in the countryside. The city’s economy and vastness
have facilitated the business of these shops and their
sheer presence – anachronistic to those who belong
to the popular realm - charts out an unstated vision
of alternatives.
Let me first of all name some of the herbs sold in
these shops. Arugam grass, basil, climbing brinjal,
Indian pennywort, bael, jamoon plum nut, turmeric,
gallnut, Malabar nut, lotus stem wick, Yercum fibre
wick, dry ginger and neem flower make up common
list along with items that would ward off evil eye
such as black twines, pumpkin pictures and yellow
twines. If sacred things varying from basil bead
garlands and holy ash pockets to lamps and wicks
form yet another set available, then, traditional
almanacs, astrological chapbooks and books of
prayer songs complete the picture. Medicine, belief
and worship shape the syntax of these shops and
certain objects like turmeric, basil and Yercum
traverse through all the three realms. Indicators of a
larger paradigm basil and turmeric have found
entries in the encyclopedia of South Asian Folklore
(2003) edited by Margaret A. Mills, Peter J. Claus and
Sarah Diamond. Yercum is yet to make its place in
any encyclopedia including the Tamil one,
Abithanachintamani.
Yercum is a milky plant that grows even in a
mound of trash all over the Tamil landscape. Yercum
sports small white flowers with violet veins along the
edges of the petals. Children are often advised not to
play with the milk of Yercum plant, as it is feared to
be poisonous. Although ruthlessly destroyed if it is
Yercum Plant
Editorial
M.D.Muthukumaraswamy
found in the backyard of any house, Yercum is
believed to be the most favourite plant of Ganesh,
the remover of all obstacles. During Ganesh
Chadurthi festival there is sudden demand for
Yercum flowers. Ganesh figurines made out of
Yercum stems are considered to be of extraordinary
significance and auspicious quality. Lighting a
Yercum fibre wick in front of Ganesh is believed to
bring boons unparalleled. Nonetheless no plausible
explanation exists in the folklore of Ganesh that
would connect him to Yercum. On the contrary there
is quite a body of negative folklore surrounding
Yercum. In the recently published ten-volume
collection of Tamil
folksongs (2001) edited by
Aru. Ramanathan, one
folksong refers to Yercum
as one of the herbs that
may be used to abort an
unwanted child. (Volume
3, Page 76 Song number
412). In fact, Yercum is a
Courtesy: http://www.avatara.org
Tamil cultural sign that
subscribes to certain
incompleteness and so to
infinity of interpretations.
Tying a Yercum fibre
twine around the hip of a
child is believed to cure
diarrhoea and ward off any Lord Dhanvantari,
possible stomach ailments. the Original Teacher of Ayurveda
It is possible that Yercum
kills shigella, a highly virulent microbe responsible
for half of all episodes of bloody diarrhoea in young
children. Nobody has ever proved it yet. Yercum’s
transference from a sacred/feared plant to a
medicinal herb is a path familiar to a hermeneutic
that wraps itself in itself and enters the domain of
languages. It is this hermeneutics that reveals the
cultural processes at work because it shows how
cultural signs never cease to implicate themselves. If
culture were to be seen as a dynamic process we
cannot believe that cultural signs exist primarily,
originally, actually, as coherent, pertinent and
systematic marks. The ambivalent position of Yercum
in Tamil culture exposes this fundamental nature of
cultural signs. Floating they are, they gain meaning,
place and purpose in life’s moments.
Lighting a Yercum fibre wick in front of Ganesh or
tying a Yercum fibre twine around the hip of a child
may emerge from someone’s moments of despair
facilitated by tradition. Often they cannot and do not
stand the test of scientific testimony. Especially when
it comes to the case of folk medicine the main
argument revolves around its scientific verifiability.
The domain shift results in several problems.
LIGHTING A YERCUM FIBRE WICK 3
 One, when the curative
properties of some of the
folk medicine do stand the
tests of verifiability they are
Courtesy: The Hindu Folio, October 8, 2000
immediately patented in
today’s context of global
economy. The patenting
severely restricts the free,
unlimited and creative uses
of the said medicines in any
given culture.
Two, often folk
medicinal herbs are
collected from particular
Agasthiyar, the patron saint of surrounding only as the
Siddha medicine ‘surrounding’ consisting of
certain soil condition and
accompanying plants contribute towards their
curative properties. Actually the prescriptions for the
surroundings are the prescriptions for the
preservation of biodiversity as well. When particular
herbs are isolated for mass production their necessity
of unique habitat is brutally ignored.
Three, folk medicine is embedded in a system
(say, Ayurveda, Siddha or Unani-Tibb) that links
cosmos, body and nature. There has been such an
erosion of knowledge that often the relation between
the cosmic philosophy of these systems and the
actual medical practices do not make sense.
These are issues in addition to the conceptual
divide between a single modern, rational, mechanistic
and science based medical system and a plurality of
context-dependent folk medicines. Thanks to the
works of very fine scholars new respect for
indigenous knowledge systems (Barsh 1997; Brush
1993; Dharampal 1983; Sen 1992; Shiva and Holla-Bhar
1993; Warren et al. 1995) and for the cultural value of
alternative sciences (Nandy 1988; Visvanathan 1997)
has diminished confidence in scientism. However,
the job of the folklorist in decoding medicinal signs is
yet to be done. At the moment only collections listing
folk medicines exist in print.
Vi s i t
Our Renovated
We b s i t e
www.indianfolkore.org
4 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003
Let me light a Yercum fibre wick towards the
accomplishment of this goal.
Note
I gratefully acknowledge my colleague Mr.
Murugan’s help in collecting some of the data
required for this essay.
Bibliography
Barsh, Russel, 1997. “The Epistemology of Traditional
Healing Systems”. Human Organization. 56 (Spring): 28-37.
Brush, Stephen B., 1993. “Indigenous Knowledge of Biological
Resources and Intellectual Property Rights: The Role of
Anthropology”. American Anthropologist, 95(3): 653-71.
Chaudhuri, B., and S. Chaudhuri, 1986. “Tribal Health,
Disease and Treatment: A Review Study”. In
B. Chaudhuri, ed., Tribal Health: Socio-Cultural
Dimensions, New Delhi: Inter-India, pp. 37-52.
Claus, Peter J., 1984. “Medical Anthropology and the
Ethnography of Spirit Possession”. In E.V. Daniel and
J.E. Pugh, eds., South Asian Systems of Healing, 60-72,
Contributions to Asian Studies (Leiden) vol. 18.
Dharampal, ed., 1983 (1971). Indian Science and Technology
in the Eighteenth Century. Hyderabad: Academy of
Gandhian Studies.
Mills, Margaret A., Peter J. Claus and Sarah Diamond,
eds., 2003. South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia. New
York: Routledge.
Nandy, Ashis, ed., 1988. Science, Hegemony and Violence:
A Requiem for Modernity. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Ramanathan, Aru., eds., 2001 Nattupurapadal kalanchiyam
Volume 1-10. Chidambaram: Meyyappan Thamizhayvakam.
Sen, Geeti, ed., 1992. Indigenous Vision: Peoples of India,
Attitudes to Environment. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Shiva, Vandana and Radha Holla-Bhar, 1993. “Intellectual
Piracy and the Neem Tree”. The Ecologist. 23(6): 223-7.
Visvanathan, Shiv., 1997. A Carnival for Science: Essays on
Science, Technology and Development. Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
Warren, D. Michael, L. Jan Slikkerveer and David
Brokensha, eds., 1995. The Cultural Dimensions of
Development: Indigenous Knowledge Systems. London:
Intermediate Technology Publications.

DOHADA (PREGNANCY CRAVINGS)*
Jerome H. Bauer is Lecturer in the
Department of Religious Studies at
Washington University, St.Louis. The
author can be contacted at
jeromebauer@sbcglobal.net
D
ohada (Sanskrit), dohala
(Pali), dohala (Prakrit,
Hindi), doladuk (Sinhalese),
“two-heartedness,” is the
pregnancy whim, when the will of
the foetus influences the moods
and desires of the mother. The
word is probably derived from
Sanskrit (dvi + hrd), literally
“having two hearts”; from Sanskrit
daurhrda, “sickness of heart,”
“nausea,” or “evil-hearted”; or
perhaps from Sanskrit doha + da,
“giving milk.” Dohada is
sometimes a euphemism for
pregnancy.
The condition of having a
second heart, causing vicarious
cravings in the mother, is
discussed in Sanskrit treatises on
medicine and love, and in
religious literature, where it is
often interpreted as transfer of
karmic substance (especially by
Hindus) or as coordination of two
people’s karma (especially by
Jains). In literature, the dohada
motif is used as a stock
embellishment. For example,
many poetic descriptions of spring
feature the pregnancy longings of
blossoming trees. The asoka tree
longs for the touch of a maiden’s
foot in order to blossom, and the
kadamba tree for the first thunder
of the monsoon. Stories of
pregnant humans and animals in
dohada also abound, especially in
the religious literature of the
Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains,
where they often have a formulaic
character, serving, like dreams, to
augur the birth of a hero. Dohada
incidents often serve as a start
motif, or are used ornamentally,
Jerome H. Bauer
having no obvious influence on
the main events of a story.
Dohada stories usually involve
some direct or indirect danger to
the husband, who must perform
heroic deeds to satisfy his wife’s
cravings, ensuring a safe and
auspicious birth. Sometimes a
dangerous dohada is satisfied by
trickery, or dohada may be
feigned to trick the husband.
Dohada stories usually involve
inauspicious, dangerous cravings,
but, especially in a Jain context,
may involve auspicious cravings
for pious acts.
Examples of auspicious or
good dohada are the craving of a
Jain woman to hear continuously
the Jain teachings, and to spend
money for religious purposes, or
the craving of a Buddhist woman
to entertain the monks.
Cases of inauspicious or evil
dohada are more numerous. For
example, in the Thusa Jataka,
Prince Ajatasatru’s mother has a
dohada to drink blood from her
husband King Bimbisara’s knee,
which is satisfied; she gives birth,
after an unsuccessful attempt at
abortion, to a child who is
destined to kill his father and seize
his throne. The Vipaka Sutra (a
Svetambara Jain canonical text)
contains many especially sinister
dohada stories.
Dohada is often satisfied by
deceit. In the Kathasaritsagara,
Queen Mrgavati has a dohada to
bathe in a lake of blood, which is
satisfied by her husband, who
makes for her a lake of red colored
lac. In the Parisistaparvan, the
Machiavellian political theorist
Canakya (Kautilya), plotting to
destroy the Nanda dynasty,
searches for a suitable proxy to
rule for him. A village chief’s
daughter has a dohada to drink
the moon, and Canakya promises
to fulfill it if the infant is given to
him to raise. The dohada is
fulfilled when the mother drinks a
reflection of the moon, and her
son, the future Mauryan emperor,
is named Candragupta, “Moon
Protected.”
Many stories involve feigned
dohada. In the Vidhurapandita
Jataka, the queen, wishing to hear
the sage Vidhura discourse on the
Dharma, feigns dohada. In the
Nigrodha Jataka, a woman feigns
pregnancy and dohada in order to
improve her status in the
household.
Similar tales are found in the
world’s folk and popular literature.
(See MotifT571, “unreasonable
demands of pregnant women”;
Thompson 1957: 402-403).
References
Bauer, Jerome H., 1998. Karma and
Control: The Prodigious and the
Auspicious in Ivetambara Jaina
Canonical Mythology, ch.5.
Ph.D.diss., University of
Pennsylvania.
Bloomfield, Maurice, 1920. “The
Dohada or Craving of Pregnant
Women: A Motif in Hindu Fiction”.
Journal of the American Oriental
Society 40 (1): 1-24.
Tawney, C.H., tr., The Ocean of Story,
Being C.H. Tawney’s translation of
Somadeva’s Kathasaritsagara (or Ocean
of Streams of Story). Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass.
Thompson, Stith, 1957. Motif-Index of
Folk Literature, vol. 5. Bloomington:
Indian University Press.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
(This article was originally published in
the encyclopedia of South Asian Folklore
(2003), p. 163.)
South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia
Edited by Margaret A. Mills,
Peter J. Claus, and Sarah Diamond
2003, pages xxx + 710 New York,
London: Routledge.
DOHADA 5

HOT / COLD*
Mark Nichter is teaching at the
Department of Anthropology, Princeton
University. The author can be contacted at
Mnichter@u.arizona.edu
H
ot/cold is a conceptual
framework widely adhered
to throughout South Asia.
Within Asian medical systems,
hot/cold descriptors are used to
denote the qualities of people,
plants, animals, minerals, places,
times, seasons, celestial bodies,
foods, medicines, stages of
development, gender-based
proclivities, and bodily sensations
as well as symptoms and types of
illness. Symptoms are recognised
as signs of internal heat and cold
manifest in myriad forms, related
to various humoural imbalances.
To the lay population, hot/cold
reasoning guides behaviours
ranging from folk dietetic practice
to bathing habits, domestic health
care to the interpretation of how
medicines work, evaluations of the
qualities of soil to deliberation
about the use of various types of
fertilisers.
Significant intra- as well as
interregional variation exists in the
classification of specific items and
phenomena as hot/cold; there is
more of a pattern in the way the
framework is employed than in
the specific rules for its
application. Consensus is greatest
for items involved in rituals. For
example, Hindu rituals follow a
logic that demands particular
types of offerings representing
hot/cold qualities matching the
characteristics of a deity or the
intent of a particular sequence in
the ritual.
Hot/cold may refer to either
selective qualities or the overall
qualities of an item being
described. A point of comparison
may be implicit (rice is cool in
relation to wheat) or explicit when
an index object is noted in
6 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003
Mark Nichter
conversation. For example,
particular colours and tastes are
widely associated with states of
hot/cold (e.g., red: hot, white:
cold), but these attributes may be
eclipsed by others, such as body
sensation, which are more
immediate (e.g., burning
sensation: hot) as well as subject
to personal interpretation.
Hot/cold reference is often
relational, hot-cold constituting a
continuum along which one item
may be described in relation to
others within a common domain
(e.g., milled rice: hot, parboiled
rice: cold; beer: cool, rum: hot). A
point of comparison may be
implicit (rice is cool in relation to
wheat) or emerge as an anchor
point in conversation. Items tend
to be classified within domains
(vegetables, meats, liquor,
medicines), each domain
analogous to an octave on a
musical scale. Thus, a grain such
as wheat may be classified as hot,
as may a meat such as chicken
and an oil such as mustard seed
oil. Each may be thought of as hot
in relation to other members of a
class, but their qualities may not
be seen as identical, although each
may be described as causing a
heating effect on the body if
consumed in excess.
The hot/cold conceptual
framework constitutes an excellent
example of an interpretive “model
of” serving as a “model for”
(Geertz 1973) practice. At issue is
when the model is invoked.
Research in South Asia suggests
that predispositions toward hot/
cold reasoning are embodied
through a complex of practices,
especially those associated with
pregnancy and delivery, child
care, and illness. South Asians do
not spend their lives strictly
abiding by rules of healthy living
underlain by hot/cold
conceptualisation. They do,
however, follow practices
influenced by hot/cold reasoning at
times associated with states of
vulnerability. Hot/cold reasoning is
further employed to explain new
phenomena (e.g., how birth
control pills work), and it serves as
a guide for experimentation. A
flexible, user-friendly conceptual
framework, hot/cold facilitates
communication between expert
domains of knowledge such as
astrology, Ayurveda medicine, and
exorcism wherein associations
between the hot/cold properties of
stars, spirits, and bodily states
may be drawn. Hot/cold also
provides specialists with a widely
understood reference point
enabling communication with
laypersons unable to grasp the
complex relationships underlying
expert practice.
References
Beck, Brenda, 1969. “Colour and Heat
in a South Indian Ritual”. Man 4:
553-572.
Babb, Lawrence, 1973. “Heat and
control in Chhattisgarhi ritual”.
Eastern Anthropologist, 26: 11-28.
Geertz, Clifford, 1973. The
Interpretation of Cultures. New York:
Basic Books.
Nichter, Mark, 1986. “Modes of Food
Classification and the Diet-Health
Contingency: A South Indian
Case”. In R.S. Khare and M.S. A.
Rao, eds., Food, Society and Culture.
Durham: Carolina Academic Press.
Wandel, Margareta, et al., 1984.
“Heating and cooling foods in
relation to food habits in a southern
Sri Lanka community”. Ecology of
Food and Nutrition, 14: 93-140.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
(This article was originally published in
the encyclopedia of South Asian Folklore
(2003), pp. 289 - 290.)
South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia
Edited by Margaret A. Mills,
Peter J. Claus, and Sarah Diamond
2003, pages xxx + 710 New York,
London: Routledge.

DREAMS*
Serinity Young
Serinity Young is Research Associate in the Department of
Anthropology at American Museum of Natural History, New
York. The author can be contacted at sy108@earthlink.net
D
reams are pervasive in South Asian folk
literature. Folk beliefs about dreams in South
Asia are similar to those found in the classical
traditions of South Asia as well as in other cultures
from around the world. For example, most people
distinguish meaningful from meaningless dreams,
emphasizing the importance of dreams that occur
around dawn and dreams sent by gods over those
caused by bodily disorders, such as indigestion.
Indeed, most of the dreams in Somadeva’s
Kathasaritsagara story collection take place at dawn
and are sent by the gods. These basic ideas about
dreams are also found in ancient texts such as the
Caraka and Susruta Samhitas (medical texts) and in
early Buddhist works such as the Samantapasadika
(I.520-529), Manorathapuraii (V.xx.6), and Milindapanha
(IV.75), while the Palija takas are particularly rich in
the dreams of women.
Overshadowing these theories in Hinduism,
however, is the well-known idea that we are all
participating in God’s dream of creation. One version of
this idea is contained in the Kurma Purana, which
describes the beginning of this kalpa (eon), when
nothing existed but a vast ocean and Lord Narayana
(Brahma; in other versions, Vishnu) sleeping on the coils
of a great snake. As he sleeps, he dreams, and a
wonderful lotus grows out of his navel from which arises
all that exists; God’s dream is the basis of our reality.
Shared Dreams
One type of dream preserved in various stores is the
shared dream, a dream that appears on the same
night to more than one person. While examples of
such dreams can be found in other cultures, South
Asia is an especially rich source for them. Examples
from the Kathasaritsagara include:
¾ two Brahman cousins who perform austerities
to Karttikeya and then receive a shared prophetic
dream telling them where to find a guru (I.12).
¾ three Brahman women, who remain virtuous
wives even though they have been abandoned by
their husbands, share a dream from Siva (I.19-20).
¾ a king and queen worship Siva in order to
obtain a son, and he appears in both their dreams,
predicting they will have a son. Later the queen
dreams that Siva gives her a fruit, and this is taken as
confirmation of the first dream (II.136).
Shared dreams also occur in Buddhist stories
such as the Mahavastu, in which the Buddha’s father,
wife, and aunt all have dreams portending his
departure from home (II.129-131). Another type of
shared dream is one that transcends time, as when
the Buddha has five dreams said to be the same
dreams had by Buddhas of earlier eons recorded in
Lalitavistara (I.296-297). A second example of this type
is the conception dream of the Buddha’s mother that
is said to have been dreamt by the mother of the
preceding Buddha, Dipamkara, mentioned in
Mahavastu (I.205). Additional examples of such
transtemporal shared dreams are contained in the
Lotus Sutra and the Arya svapna nirdesa nama
mahayana sutra (bKa’ ‘gyur, vol.25, text 48), which
describe the dreams of Bodhisattvas. In these
examples shared dreams are used to dramatize the
essential sameness of all Buddhist heroes; their
progress along the path leading to enlightenment is
marked by dream signposts. Correspondingly, shared
dreams also appear in stories about famous Buddhist
religious figures in Tibet. One group of such dreams
centres on Padmasambhava’s departure from home
when both his adopted father and his wife have
frightening dreams.
An especially rich text in terms of dreams and
folk beliefs is the popular biography of the Tibetan
yogi and poet Milarepa (eleventh through twelfth
century). This text is actually structured by the
dreams that begin and end it, as well as anchor its
pivotal centre, when Milarepa passes from being a
disciple to becoming a guru himself. It also contains
the shared dreams that Milarepa’s guru, Marpa, and
Marpa’s wife, Dakmema, have the night before
Milarepa arrives to ask Marpa to be his guru. Marpa
dreams of a vajra (a tantric ritual implement), while
Dakmema dreams of a stupa (Buddhist reliquary),
religious symbols appropriate to announcing a
Buddhist saint.
Conception Dreams
Some of the dreams presented thus far are also
examples of the conception dream, a type of dream
frequently encountered in the biographical literature
of the Buddhists and Jains. Equally famous are the
Maya, the mother of Buddha, having a dream
Courtesy: http://www.tibetshop.com
DREAMS 7
 dreams of Queen Maya, the
Buddha’s mother, and Queen
Trisala, the mother of Mahavira,
founder of the Jains. In her dream,
Queen Maya sees a magnificent
white elephant, which, by striking
her right side with its trunk, is able
to enter her womb. This dream is
understood to be a prediction of the
birth of a son who will be a world
ruler either through kingship or
renunciation. Many versions of
Maya’s dream are among the earliest
images preserved in Buddhist
iconography and texts, and
representations of this dream kept Marpa, the founder of the Kagyu School
up an even pace with the spread of of Tibetian Buddhism
Buddhism. The Buddhist belief in
conception dreams is also well documented in later
Tibetan biographies, probably due in equal part to the Ayurvedic approach to the whole person, in which
popularity of Maya’s dream and earlier indigenous
beliefs.
In the Jain case, on the night that Mahavira enters dreams were used as a diagnostic tool by such well-
Queen Trishala’s womb she has fourteen sequential
dreams of a white elephant, a white bull, a lion, the
goddess Sri, a garland, the moon, the sun, a large
flag, a vase, a lake, the milk ocean, a celestial abode,
a heap of jewels, and a fire. When Queen Trishala
tells her dreams to her husband and asks him to
interpret them, he says they mean that the couple
will have a son who will be a great king. The next
day, however, the king sends for the official dream
interpreters who, citing dream interpretation books,
say the dreams mean the child will be either a
universal emperor or a jina (a Jain hero). Of particular
interest is Trishala’s behaviour after her husband
interprets her dream. She says, “These, my excellent
and preeminent dreams, shall not be counteracted by
other bad dreams.” The narration continues,
“Accordingly she remained awake to save her dreams
by means of [hearing] good, auspicious, pious,
agreeable stories about gods and religious men”
(Jacobi, 1968: I.240). Her words and actions are
reminiscent of similar ritual activities from the Vedic
period, though here they are in relation to auspicious
dreams.
Propitiation and Diagnosis
Some of the earliest references to dreams are
contained in the Rg Veda, in which several hymns
appeal to various deities to dispel the effects of evil
dreams (II.28.10, V.82.4-5, VIII.47.14-18, X.36.4, and
X.16.4). In the Arthava Veda other
appeals for protection from bad
dreams are directed toward
healing plants and salves (VI.9,
IV.17, and X.3), in part due to a
Courtesy: http://www.panjokutch.com
related belief that dreams can
reveal the onset of illness.
Ancient Indians also sometimes
dreamt of the dead, but for
them, as in many other cultures,
contact with the dead is polluting
and such pollution can occur in
dreams as well as in the waking Fourteen Dreams of Queen Trishala
8 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003
state. One of the ways to get rid of
dream pollution is to transfer it to
another object or to associate the
dream with something ephemeral.
Examples of this kind of thinking are
found in the Taittiriya-Araiyaka,
which recommends a particular grass
Courtesy: http://www.tibetshop.com
for removing the effects of bad
dreams (X.1.7), and in the Atharva
Veda, which states, “We transfer
every evil dream upon our enemy”
(VI.46).
The medical texts of ancient
India, the Caraka Samhita and Susruta
Samhita (CS and SS), which are still
in use today as part of the Ayurvedic
system of healing, use dreams as a
diagnostic tool. Sudhir Kakar’s recent work has
shown the persistence of these ancient ideas and the
dreams are considered a meaningful part of the
person. This is not an idea unique to ancient India-
known ancient Greek doctors as Galen and
Hippocrates, as well as by ancient Mesopotamian
doctors. Significantly, the CS contains many
examples of premonitory dreams of disease and
death that are similar to those seen in the epics and
folktales.
In the SS, dreams seem to be caused by illness as
well as being symptoms of it; certain dreams
appearing to a healthy person indicate the onset of
illness. In other words, a dream may be the first
symptom. Fortunately, the text also has
recommendations to avert the influence of dreams,
such as reciting the Gayatri, meditating on a holy
subject, or sleeping in a temple for three consecutive
nights. It also recommends that “an evil dream
should not be related to another,” although this is
challenged by the evidence of Indian folk and literary
texts, in which the detailed telling of dreams,
especially those thought to be inauspicious, is a stock
device. This does not, however, preclude someone
from keeping silent about his or her dreams, and the
recommendation itself would seem to be connected to
the idea that saying the dream out loud will
contribute to or hasten its dreaded effect. The main
point, though, is the notion that dreams have a
lingering effect that can be avoided by appealing to
divine power, an idea that persists from Vedic times
to the present.
As we have seen, this
lingering effect may also be a
source of pollution (such as
contact with the dead) or it may
be viewed as part of the effluvia
of the night that must be purified
or washed away during morning
ablutions. The philosophical texts
treat dreams as effluvia when
they assert a negative position,
mainly referring to them as
useless illusions or as useful only
 for signifying how real and powerful a force illusion
(maya) is in waking life.
In spite of the lively interest in dreams in the
Vedas and related texts, few dreams actually occur in
the epics, and then they play a very minor role. Two
dreams that do occur in Valmiki’s Ramayana are of
minor characters; however, both announce deaths,
using the same images contained in the ancient
Indian medical texts, for example, seeing a woman
dressed in red, dragging someone toward the south.
The few dreams in the Mahabharata also belong to
secondary or even liminal characters such as Karna
and Bhisma. Dreams are, however, ubiquitous in the
Tibetan epic of Gesar (Kesar), in which the hero
continually receives dream visitations from Buddhist
deities who offer him advice which he follows.
Divination
Because they link the internal and subjective
emotional life of an individual with what appears to
be objective outer events and symbols, dreams are
believed to be a particularly potent form of
divination. The
dreamer is totally
engaged in the
dream activity and,
upon awakening,
feels compelled to
describe the
experience and to
seek an
interpretation that
Courtesy: http://www.tibetshop.com
resolves it. The
“objective” quality
of dreams is
perhaps most
clearly expressed
when dreamers say
they “saw” (drs) the
dream rather than
Milarepa, a twelth century poet-saint of Tibet
“had” a dream.
This use of language expresses the idea that dreams
are experienced as given to individuals rather than
created by them and emphasises the external rather
than the internal origin of the dream, thereby lending
them a possibly divine authority. This thinking is
expressed in hymn 4.9 of the Atharva Veda that
appeals to an eye ointment, anana, for protection
from troubled dreams, and in the Tibetan Tangyur
(vol.25, text 48) that recommends preparing and
using a certain eye ointment when seeking an
auspicious dream.
At the same time, dreams are a useful narrative
device, acting as a deus ex machina to shift the
action, define character, and express the inevitability
of what follows. Not infrequently, they are the
vehicles for divine appearances that reassure the
audience not only of the immanence of divinity, but
of the gods’ enduring concern with the affairs of
humanity. More research needs to be done on all
these aspects of dream life, especially through
interviewing living people about their dream beliefs
and experiences.
References
Bays, Gwendolyn, tr., 1983. The Voice of the Buddha: The
Beauty of Compassion. (Original: Lalitavistara) Berkeley,
California: Dharma Publishing.
Bhishagratna, Kaviraj Kunjalal, 1963. Sushruta Samhita.
Varanasi, India: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series.(2nd edition).
bKa’ ‘gyur., 1980. Vol. 25, text 48. Oakland, Calif.: Dharma.
Bloomfield, Maurice, tr., 1979 (1897). Atharva Veda. Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass.
Bolling, G.M., 1913. “Dreams and Sleep (Vedic)”. In James
Hastings, ed., The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics,
vol.5. New York: Charles Scribner.
Esnoul, Anne-Marie, 1959. Les Songes et leur interpretation
dans l’Inde. In Les Songes et leur interpretation (Dreams and
Their Interpretation) Paris: Editions du Seuil.
Griffith, Ralph T.H., tr., 1971 (1889). The Hymns of the Rg Veda.
Varanasi (India): Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office.
Jacobi, Hermann, 1968 (1884). Jaina Sutras. New York:
Dover Publications.
Jones, J.J., tr., 1949-1956. Mahavastu. London: Pali Text
Society.
Kern, H., tr., 1963 (1884). Lotus Sutra, or Saddharmapuidarika
(The Lotus of the True Law), 278-279. New York: Dover
Publications.
Lhalungpa, Lobsang P., tr., 1984. The Life of Milarepa.
Boulder, Colo., and London: Shambhala Publications.
O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger, 1984. Dreams, Illusion and Other
Realities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sharma, Jadish, and Lee Siegel, 1980. Dream-Symbolism in
the Sramaiic Tradition: Two Psychoanalytical Studies in Jainist
and Buddhist Dream Legends. Calcutta: Firma KLM.
Sharma, R.K., and Bhagwan Das, tr., 1977. Caraka Samhita,
II.545-550. Varanasi (India): Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series.
Shastri, H.R., tr., 1953-1957. The Ramayana of Valmiki.
London: Shantisadan.
Tagore, Ganesh Vasudeo, tr. (n.d.) Kurma Purana. Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass.
Tawney, C.H., tr., 1924. Kathasaritsagara (The Ocean of
Story). London: Chas. J. Sawyer.
Tsogyal, Yeshe, 1978. The Life and Liberation of
Padmasambhava, tr.[Kenneth Douglas and Gwendolyn
Bays from the French of Gustave-Charles Toussaint.]
Berkeley, Calif.: Dharma Publishing.
Van Buitenen, J.A.B., tr., 1975-1978. The Mahabharata. Vols.
2 & 3. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Young, Serinity, 1999. Dreaming in the Lotus: Buddhist Dream
Narrative, Imagery, and Practice. Boston: Wisdom
Publications.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
(This article was originally published in the encyclopedia of
South Asian Folklore (2003), pp. 166 - 169.)
South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia
Edited by Margaret A. Mills,
Peter J. Claus, and Sarah Diamond
2003, pages xxx + 710 New York,
London: Routledge.
* We sincerely thank Professors Peter J. Claus,
Margaret A. Mills and Sarah Diamond, the Editors
of the South Asian Folklore – An Encyclopedia (2003,
New York and London: Routledge) and the authors,
Jerome H. Bauer, Mark Nichter and Serinity Young
for giving us permission to reprint these articles.
DREAMS 9
 INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE EROSION
Jyoti Kumari is a freelance researcher and doctoral candidate
researching ‘Environmental History of Colonial Punjab’ at the
Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in New Delhi. The author can be
contacted at jyotikm202@rediffmail.com
T
he indigenous communities in India are the
original inhabitants of the natural region and
they have been maintaining a historical
continuity with pre-industrial societies by following
traditional patterns of life. Scattered all over the
country, they constitute around 8.8 per cent of the
total population and with a few exceptions, the
majority of them are forest dwellers. Their socio-
cultural identity has remained unaffected by forces of
colonisation, modernisation, and globalisation. They
have preserved their culture through their indigenous
knowledge systems, which authenticate the presence
of their rich socio-cultural and medical heritage. The
sacred rituals and healing practices are very much
visible in their culture. Erosion of indigenous
knowledge has been taking place in India for the past
two hundred years and there is no effort by the
government to promote and protect these
anonymous but unique knowledge holders of the
society. The contribution of indigenous knowledge in
the modern systems of medicine has been
underestimated and it is ironical that the scientific
community has treated the ‘foundation of scientific
medicine’ as ‘unscientific’.
This article emphasises on the revival of folk
medicine tradition that is happening with the help of
pharmaceutical companies, voluntary organisations.
Folk knowledge about pharmaceutical diversity is as
old as civilisation itself. The first historical evidence
of traditional knowledge about medicinal plants has
been found in Rg Veda. In fact, the Atharva Veda, a
treatise on folk medicine traditions, explains various
herbal formulations that are still in use. Even in the
medieval period there was an exchange of traditional
medical wisdom between Arabs, Chinese, and
Indians. However, it was during the British rule that
the exploitation of natural resources and unfriendly
forest laws adversely affected the indigenous
communities’ access to medicinal plants and heralded
an era of gradual knowledge erosion. The colonisers’
ideological principle of ‘scientific forestry’ was based
on the conception that all traditional practices of
conservation were wasteful and they would destroy
the forest wealth. The conservators of the post-
colonial period also promoted the same legacy
further.
In fact, the allopathic system of medicine was
promoted and legitimised during the British rule,
10 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003
Jyoti Kumari
whereas the traditional systems of medicine received
a major setback. Deforestation during this period led
to the disappearance and extinction of several
medicinal plants and the reduced access to natural
resources further aggravated the situation. Various
development projects taken up in the post-
independence period have displaced thousands of
local and tribal communities. When indigenous
people are forced to displacement, the unrecorded
traditional knowledge they carry with them will
become completely useless in view of new ecosystem.
And, the forced resettlement of indigenous and tribal
people in a different ecological zone poses a great
threat to the existence of their indigenous knowledge
system and intellectual property rights. In addition,
the communities tend to lose vast amount of
unrecorded traditional knowledge because of the
ageing of the elders and maintenance of secrecy
Courtesy: http://tbgri.com
Kani people and TBGRI scientists after the first transfer
of licence fees and royalties in 1999
about medicinal plants and forest products. There is
an urgent need to collect, document and preserve
this medicinal knowledge keeping in view of the
future generations and this needs to be done
immediately with the help of individuals,
government agencies, and non-governmental
organisations.
The gradual erosion of traditional knowledge has
serious repercussions on the subsistence patterns,
that is, it reduces the self-sufficiency of indigenous
people by making them depend on urban societies.
In the absence of basic healthcare facilities in villages,
the traditional medicine practices provide an
alternative health security to millions of people. The
World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that
around 80 per cent of the world population depend
on traditional medicine for some aspects of primary
health care. However, there is a need for an objective
evaluation to get maximum benefit of the traditional
medicine system. The indigenous and modern herbal companies are
systems of medicine are not mutually exclusive but commercialising the
rather complementary, and a combination of them cultivation of medicinal plants
can render development more cost effective, equitable and in the process, many
as well as more sustainable. The traditional literature species have been lost even

Courtesy: http://avpayurveda.com
and folklore of indigenous medicine and medicinal before their true value was
practices have positively contributed to the recognised. The already
discoveries of many allopathic medicines, such as, explored knowledge of
Morphine, Digoxin, Ephedrine and Reserpine. The indigenous people must be
Raulfia, a pharmaceutical product for lowering blood protected through national or
pressure, is manufactured from the extract of international laws and they
snakeroot plant, which has been used by indigenous Jeevani
must be recognised as unique
communities for centuries. The folk knowledge about or the only possessors of this
cinchona bark led to the discovery of Quinine for knowledge. There should be a fair arrangement of
curing malarial diseases. profit sharing between indigenous communities and
A number of research institutions and non- pharmaceutical companies. But this would require
governmental organisations working on herbal recognition of intellectual property rights of tribal
medicines and indigenous systems of curing have communities by the government and corporations,
been exploring and promoting the value of traditional which disagree with the notion that indigenous
medicines. Jagran, a not-for-profit organisation in people should be paid for their knowledge. However,
Rajasthan, is promoting indigenous healers; the use one example of such profit sharing arrangement is
of Banjauri plant (Vivoa indica) as an oral that the local Kani tribe in Kerala is given recognition
contraceptive by the Bihar tribals has been confirmed as discoverer and knowledge holders of the medicinal
by scientists of the Indian Institute of Science and the plant, Trichopus zeylanicus travancoricius, which gives
Georgetown University Medical Centre, Washington; the drug called Jeevani, by the Tropical Botanical
the Catholic Health Association of India in Andhra Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI). After giving
Pradesh has successfully developed a medicine based license to a local drug manufacturer, the TBGRI
on tribal formulations to cure kala-azar (the Central shared fifty percent of the license fee and royalty on
Drug Research Institute has confirmed its the drug with the Kani tribe. Though the whole
effectiveness). The Foundation for Revitalisation of arrangement is not free from controversy, it is still
Local Health Traditions in Bangalore has been doing the first and only example of giving recognition to the
commendable work in documenting and encouraging intellectual property rights of an indigenous tribe. For
the cultivation of medicinal plants. The revival of meeting the future needs of rare medicinal herbs, the
traditional medicine is extremely difficult under the documentation of traditional medicinal knowledge
current system of intellectual property rights. The has long been suggested by national and
developing countries are unable to institute their own international organisations. The Indian government
laws on such rights since they are under the pressure has set up a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library to
of national and multinational companies which have facilitate wider access to this knowledge and to save
been exploiting this knowledge for their own profit. it from bio-piracy. However, there are no provisions
As far as patent laws are concerned, it is mandatory for any compensation for the communities whose
for the patent holder to disclose the source or origin knowledge has been stored in it and will now be
of information regarding the property. There is no freely available at global level without giving the local
provision for providing compensation or recognition communities their rightful due. Access to this
to the original knowledge holders and it has resulted knowledge should have had enough safeguards to
in disproportionate sharing of benefits. protect the interests of indigenous people. If new
discoveries are made on the basis of this knowledge,
The nexus between pharmaceutical companies
then there should be a proportionate benefit sharing
and policy makers highlights the implications of
among the patent holders and knowledge holders.
knowledge exploitation and they promote each other
The whole process would become successful only
at the cost of traditional knowledge of the local
when it is legally controlled.
population. The
Arokyapaccha plant (Trichopus zeylanicus)
controversy
References
between the Onge
tribe of Andaman Gosling, David L., 2001. Religion and Ecology in India and
Courtesy: http://www.holistic-online.com

and the Indian Southeast Asia. Routledge, London.

Council of Medical UNDP, 2001. Human Development Report 2001: Making New
Technologies Work for Human Development. Oxford
Research (ICMR)
University Press, New York.
over the discovery Sharma, Devinder, 2002. “Digital Library on Indian
of herb that cures Medicine Systems: Another Tool for Biopiracy”. Economic
cerebral malaria is a and Political Weekly, June 22.
case in point. In Shukla, R. S., 2000. Forestry for Tribal Development. New
Darjeeling, the Delhi: Wheeler Publications.
pharmaceutical and

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE EROSION 11

12
MEDICINAL PLANTS
Sl.NO. BOTANICAL NAMES ENGLISH NAMES TAMIL NAMES Sl.NO. BOTANICAL NAMES ENGLISH NAMES TAMIL NAMES
1 Abies Weebbiana Himalayan Silver Fir Talispatri 68 Caesalpinia Sappan Sappa Wood Pathimugam
2 Abrus Percatorius Jequirity Gundumani 69 Canarium Cummune Java Almond Tree Jangli Badam
3 Acacia Arabica Babul Tree Karuvelum 70 Canarium Strictum Black Damar Karuppu Gunguliam
4 Acacia Catechu Catechu, Black Catechu Kasikatti 71 Canscora Decussata - Shankhini
5 Acacia Concinna - Sheeyakay 72 Capsicum Frutescens Chillies Milagai
6 Acacia Farnesiana Cassia Flower Avarampoo 73 Carthamus Tinctorius Saf-flower Kusumphool
7 Acave Americana American Aloe Anekatalai 74 Carum Carui - Shimayi-shombu
8 Achyranthes Aspera Rough Chafftree Nayuruvi 75 Carum Capticum Bishop Weed Omam
9 Aconitum Ferox Indian Aconite Vashanavi 76 Carum Nigrum - Ajmud
10 Aconitum Heterophyllum Indian Atees Ativadayan 77 Cassia Tora - Ushittagarai
11 Acorus Calamus Sweet Flag Vasambu 78 Celastrus Staff Tree Valuluwai
12 Adhatoda Vasika Malabar Nut Adhatodai 79 Chenopodium Album Goose Foot Parupu Kire
13 Adiantum Capillus-Veneris Maiden-Hair Fern Hansraj 80 Cichorium Intybus Endive, Wild Chicory Kasini Virai
14 Adina Cordifulia - Manja - Kadambe 81 Citrus Medica Citron Maphal
15 Aegle Marmelos Bael Fruit Vilvam 82 Cassia Absus Chaksoo Mulappalvidhai
16 Aerua Lanata - Sirupulayur 83 Coccinia Indica - Kovai
17 Agaricus Campestris - Naikoddai 84 Cocculus Cordifolius Heart-leaved Moonseed Sindilkodi
18 Aglalia Roxburghiana - Priyangu 85 Cocculus Suberosus Indian Berry Kakakulli
19 Ailantus Malabarica - Mattipal 86 Coptis Teeta Gold Thread Peetharohini
20 Aloe Littoracis Small Aloe Musambaram 87 Corylus Avellan Hazel Nut Findak
21 Aloe Vera - Kattalai 88 Coscinium Fenestratum Tree Turmeric Mara Manjal
22 Alpinia Chinensis Lesser Galangal Chitharathai 89 Cotula Anthemoides - Babuna
23 Alpinia Galanga Galangal Perarathai 90 Croton Tiglium Purgative Cotton Nervalam
24 Althaea Officinalis Marsh Mallow Tukme Kitmee 91 Cryptocoryne Spiralis East Indian Root Nattu-Ativudayam
25 Amarantus Gangeticus - Thandukkirai 92 Cucumis Trigonus Bitter Gourd Kattu-Tumatti
26 Amarantus Viridis - Kuppaikkirai 93 Curculigo Orchioides Black Musale Nial-Panai-Kizhangu
27 Amomum Sublatum Ceylon Cardomum Periyayelaky 94 Curcuma Amada Mango Ginger Arukamlaka
28 Anacylus Pyrethrum Pellitory Akkirakaram 95 Curcuma Aromatica Wild Turmeric Kasturi Manjal
29 Andrographis Paniculata The Creat Nilavembu 96 Curcuma Zedoaria Round Zedoary Kichili Kilangu
30 Andropogon Muricatus Cuscus Grass Vettiver 97 Cynodon Dactylon Bermuda Grass Arugu
31 Anisochilus Carnosus Thick-leaved Lavender Karpooravalli 98 Cyperus Pertenuis Indian Cyperus Mutta-Kachi
32 Anthemis Nobicis Chamomile Babuna 99 Cyperus Rotundus Nut Grass Korai Kizanghu
33 Apium Graveolens Celery Ajmoda 100 Datura Alba Thornapple Umatham
34 Argyreia Malabarica - Paymoostey 101 Delphinium Denudatum - Jadwar
35 Argyreia Speciosa Elephant Creeper Samudra Pachai 102 Dendrobium Macrael - Jivanti
36 Aristolochia Barcteata Worm-Killer Adu-Tinna-Palai 103 Dolichos Biflurus Horse Gram Kollu
104 Eclipta Alba - Karisalai

INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003

37 Artanema Sesamoides - Neermulli
38 Asparagus Adscendens - Tannirvitan Kilangu 105 Elaeocarpus Ganitrus - -
39 Asparagus Racemosus - Shatavari 106 Elaeocarpus Tuberculatus - Rutthraksham
40 Atylosia Barabata Mashaparni Peruidukol 107 Elettaria Cardamumum - Elakkay
41 Baliospermum Axillare - Adavi-Amudan 108 Embelia Ribes - Vayu-Vilamgam
42 Balsamodendron Mukul Salaitree, Gu-Gugul Gukkulu 109 Euphorbia Lathyris - Burg-Sadab
43 Balsamodendron Roxburghi - Kumuda 110 Euphorbia Pilurifera Australian Asthma-Weed Amum-Patchaiaressi
44 Bambusa Arundinacea Bamboo Moongilarisi 111 Eurycoma Longifulia - Usi Thagarai
45 Barringtonia Racemosa - Samutra Palam 112 Exacumlawii - Marukozhunthu
46 Basella Alba Indian Spinach Pachalai 113 Feronai Elephantum Elephant or Wood-Apple Vilvapazham
47 Bassia Longifolia Mohua Illupai 114 Ferula Assafuetida - Perungayam
48 Benincasa Cerifera White Gourd Melon Kalyan-Pooshini 115 Foeniculum Vulgar Indian Sweet Fennel Shombu
49 Berberis Aristata Indian Barberry Mara Manjal 116 Gardenin Gummifera Dikamali Dikamalai
50 Bergera Koenigii Curry Leaf Karuveppilai 117 Garlinia Mangostana Mangosteen Mangostan
51 Betula Bhojapattra - Bhuja Palva 118 Garlinia Morella Indian Gamboge Rival Chinipal
52 Bixa Orrellana Anotta Seed Jaffra Vedai 119 Gelidium Cartilagineum Agai Agai -
53 Blepharis Edulis - Utanjan 120 Gentiana Kurroo - Katukarohini
54 Boerhaavia Diffusa Sperading Hog-Weed Mukkaratai 121 Gloriosa Superba Superb Lely Kanveli Vadai
55 Bombax Malabaricum Silk Cotton Tree Elevam 122 Glycine Suja Soybean -
56 Boswellia Glabra Indian Olibanum Mani Kundrikam 123 Glycyrrhiza Glabra Sweet Wood - Liquorice Ati-Maduram
57 Brassica Alba White Mustard Vendadugu 124 Gymnema Sylvestre - Siru-Kurunja
58 Brassica Campestris Rape Seed Kadugu 125 Gynocrd Odorata Hind Chaulmugera
59 Brassica Nigra Black Mustard Kadugu 126 Hedysarum Gangeticum - Sarivan
60 Brunella Valgaris Lavender Flower Ustukhudus 127 Helianthus Sun Flower Surya Kiranti
61 Bryonia Epigoes Bryoms Akashakarudan 128 Helicteres Isora East Indian Screw-Tree Valumbirika
62 Bryonia Seabra - Musumusukkai 129 Hemidesmus Indicus Indian Sarsaparilla Nannari
63 Butea Frondosa Bastard Teak Murkampoo 130 Herpestis Monniera Thyme-Leaved Neer Brahmi
64 Butea Superba - Kadimumukan 131 Hibiscuc Cannabinus Brown Indian Hemp Oulimanji
65 Caccinia Glauca - Gaozaban 132 Hibiscus Abelmonschua Musk-Mallow Kasthuri Vidhai
66 Caesalpinia Bonduc Molucca Bean Kazhar-Shikkay 133 Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis Chineses Rose Sembaruthi
67 Caesalpinia Bunducella - Gajakay 134 Holarrhena Antidysenterica Kurchi Kasppu-Vetpalarishi
135 Hydnucarpus Wightiana Jangli Badam Nirattimuthu
 Sl.NO. BOTANICAL NAMES ENGLISH NAMES TAMIL NAMES Sl.NO. BOTANICAL NAMES ENGLISH NAMES TAMIL NAMES
136 Hydrocotyle Asiatic Indian Pennywort - 203 Piper Longum Long-Pepper Thipplee
137 Hygrophica Spinosa - Nirmulli 204 Piper Nigrum Black Pepper Milagu
138 Hyoscyamus Niger Henbena Kurarani Omam 205 Pistacia Lentiscus Mastiche Tree Rumi Mastaki
139 Illicium Verum Hook Star Aniseeds Anasipoo 206 Pistia Stranotes Tropical Duck Weed Akasa Thamarai
140 Impatiens Balsamina - Terada 207 Plantago Ispagula Ispaghula, Isapgol Seeds Ishappukolvirai
141 Impomoea Hederaceae Pharbitis Kodikakkatan 208 Plumbago Rosea Rose Coloured Lead Wort Shivappu Chittramulam
142 Indigofera Aspalathoides - Siva-Narvaymbu 209 Pongamia Glabra Indian Beech Pungamaram
143 Indigofera Tincoturia Trueindigo Neeliouri 210 Premna Herbacea - Siruthekku
144 Ipomoea Digitata Bidarkand Vellai Kilangu 211 Prunus Mahaleb - Priyangu
145 Ipomoea Turpethum Turpeth Root / Indian Jalap Shivadai 212 Psidium Guyava Guava Goyyapazham
146 Jasminum Angustiflolium - Kattu Malli 213 Psoralea Coryifolia Babchi Seeds Karpokarishi
147 Juglans Regia Walnut Akrottu 214 Ptychotis Ajowan Bishop’s Weed Omam
148 Kaempferia Galanga - Kachhola Kilangu 215 Pueraria Tuberosa - Bidarikand
149 Kyllinga Monocephala - Nirbishi 216 Punica Granatum Pomogranite Madulam
150 Lallemantia Royleana - Tukme - Balunga 217 Putranjiva Roxburghi - Karupali
151 Lavandula Stoechas Arabian or French Lavender Dharu, Alaphajana Dharu 218 Pyrus Cydonia Quince Shimai-Madalaivirai
152 Lawsonia Alba Henna Maruthonri 219 Quercus Infectoria Oak Null, Magic Nut Machakai
153 Lepidium Sativum Cress Alivirai 220 Randia Dumtorum Emetic Nut Marukkallan-Kai
154 Lippia Nodiflora - Poduthuvalai 221 Raphanus Sativus Radish Mullangi
155 Litsea Sebifera - Maida-Lakti 222 Rauwolfia Serpentina Sarpagandha Chivan Melpodi
156 Macrotomia Benthami - Gaozaban 223 Rheum Emodi Himalayan or Indian Rhubarb Variyattu
157 Matricaria Chamumice - Babuna 224 Rhus Succedanea Galls Karkada Singi
158 Matthiolaincana - Todri Safeed 225 Ricinus Communis Castor Oil Plant Amanakku
159 Melia Azadirachta Neem Vembu 226 Rosa Damascena Damask or Persian Rose Rojappu, Golappu
160 Melissa Paruiflora - Badurangboya 227 Rubia Cordifolia Indian Madder Manditta, Manjitti
161 Mesua Ferrea Cobra’s Saffron Sirunaga Poo 228 Ruta Graveolens Garden Rue Arvada
162 Mimosa Pudica Senitive Plant Thotta Suringi 229 Salacia Reticulata - Koranti
163 Mimusopa Elengi - Magudampoo 230 Semecarpus Anacardium Marking Nut Tree Shenkottai
164 Mollugo Cerviana - Parpadgam 231 Smilax China China Root Parnagichekkai
165 Mollugu Lerviano - - 232 Solanum Jacquinii Wild Eggs Plant, Bitter Sweet Kandan Kattari
166 Momordica Charantia Bitter Gourd Pavakka-Chedi 233 Solanum Nigrum - Manathakkali
167 Morindia Citrifolia Indian Mulberry Nuna 234 Solanum Trilobatum - Thuthulai, Tudavullay
168 Moringa Oleifera Drumstick Seed Murangai Vidhai 235 Spermacoce Hispida Shaggy Putton Weed Nutti Choorie, Narrai-Churi
169 Morus Nigra Mulberry Shetuta 236 Sphaeranthus Hirtus Eastindian Globe K Vishukrianthi
170 Mucuna Pruriens Cowhage or Cowitch Plant Poonaikkali 237 Spilanthes Oleracea - Akalkem
238 Sterculia Foetida - Penai Mavum
171 Murraya Koenigll - Karuveppallai
239 Strax Benzoin - Sambirani
172 Myrica Nagi Bay Berry, Box Myetle Marudam Pattai
240 Strychnos Nux-Vomica Nux-Vomica, Poison Nut, Quaker Yetti-Kottai
173 Myristica Fragrans Nutmeg Jathikay 241 Strychnos Potatorum Clearing Nut Tree Tetan-Kottai
174 Myristica Malabarica Bombay Mace Rampatri 242 Sulanum Trilobtum - Thuthuvalai
175 Myrtus Caryophyllus Cloves Kirambu 243 Swertia Chirata - Nilavembu
176 Nardostachys Jatamansi Musk Root Jatamashi 244 Swertia Decussata - Shilajetu
177 Nereta Ciliaris - Zufa 245 Symplocos Racemosa Lodh Tree Lodhrapattai
178 Nigella Sativa Small Fennel or Black Cumin Karunjeeragam 246 Tabernaemontana Coronaris - Nandhiavattan
179 Nymdhaea Lotus - Lilly 247 Taraktogenos Kurzii - Niradimuthu
180 Ocimum Album - Ganjankorai 248 Taxus Baccata Himalayan Yew Talispatri
181 Ocimum Basilicum Sweet Basil Tiruniru Pachai 249 Terminalia Belerica Beleric Myrobalans Tanrik-Kay
182 Ocimum Sanctum Holy Basil Tulasi 250 Terminalia Chebula Myrobalan Kadukay
183 Oldenlandia Corymbosa Two-Flowered, Indian Madder Parpadagam 251 Tinospora Cordifulia - Shindilkodi
184 Onujma Bracteatum - Gauzhban 252 Toddalia Aculeata - Milagaranai
185 Origanum Majorana Wild Marjoram Maruvamu 253 Toddalia Bilocularis - Devadaru
186 Osbeckia Cupularis - Chirkualathi 254 Trachydium Lehmanni - Shekakul
187 Parmelia Perlata Stone Flower Kalpasi 255 Trichosanthes Cucumerina - Pudel, Kattup-Pepudal
188 Pavonia Zeylanica - Chitta Mutti 256 Trigonella Foenum Graeceum Fenugreek Vendayam
189 Pedalium Murex - Peru-Nerinjal 257 Valeriana Officinalis True Valerian Asaroon
190 Pedalium Murey Pau Neurnji 258 Vateria Indica White Dammer Tree Vellai-Kungiliyam
191 Peganum Harmala Syrian Rue Shimai-Azha-Vanai-Virai 259 Vernonia Anthelmintica Purple Fleabane Kattu Shiragam
192 Permina Integrifolia - Munnay 260 Lochnera Rosea Aharanthus Roseus Nithia Kalyani
193 Petruselinum Satiucm Parsley - 261 Viola Odorata Wild Violet Vayilethe, Vayilettu
194 Peucedanum Graveolens Dill Sadakuppi 262 Viola Serpens - Banafsha
195 Phaseolus Royburghi Black Gram Ulundu 263 Vitiex Negundo Five Leaved Charti Tree Nochi
196 Phoenix Dactylifera Edible Date Perichchangayi 264 Vitis Vinifera Grapes Draksha
197 Phyllanthus Niruri - Kizhkay Nelli 265 Withanis Somnifetra Winter Cherry Amukkuram
198 Physalis Minima Cape Gooseberry Siruthakkali 266 Woodfordia Floribunda - Dhathiripoo
199 Picrorrhiza Kurrooa - Katukarogani 267 Wrightia Tinctoria Sweet Indrajao Veppal Arisi
200 Pimpinella Anisum Anise, Sweet Fennel, Aniseed Shombu 268 Zingiber Officinale Dry Ginger Sukku
201 Piper Alum White Pepper Vella Milagu 269 Zizyphus Vulgaris Jujub Berries Unnab
202 Piper Chaba - Chavyam 270 Myristica Fragrans Nutmace Jathipathri

MEDICINAL PLANTS
Courtesy: R.N. Rajan & Co., Exporter, Importer and Pharmaceutical Supplier of Herbs #1, Kumarappa Maistry Street, Chennai - 1

13
 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TAMIL SIDDHAS:
TANTRA, ALCHEMY, POETICS AND HERESY
WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF WIDER TAMIL SHAIVA WORLD
Layne Little is a Fulbright scholar and doctoral candidate in the
South Asian Studies Department at the University of California,
Berkeley. The author can be contacted at anjaneya11@yahoo.com
P
rint culture and oral temple tales of the past
century have largely been responsible for
shifting the Siddhas from the most peripheral
crevices of Tamil religious imagination into the
limelight of a nationalistic religious awareness.1
Local television programming offers the convenience
of a daily consultation with Tamil Siddha doctors in
the comfort of one’s living room. A growing number
of temples now seem to have taken on their token
Siddha tomb to celebrate the ever-imminent return of
the deathless ones. In the modern imagination the
Siddhas offer an ancient spiritual science for a
modern secular world, a technology of the ancestors
to surpass that offered on the neo-colonial global
market. But is there some coherent theocratic
integration beyond the vogue of pop-parlor speech
and name-dropping the words “Tamil Siddha” as a
kind of magic invocation of cultural authenticity?
The Tamil Siddhas have no central authority or
unifying doctrine. Though there are innumerable
texts claiming to represent some nebulous Tamil
Siddha “tradition,” there is no single philosophical
orientation propounded in their works. Rather,
innumerable philosophical threads are stretched,
interwoven and unwoven again in a phantasmagoric
tapestry of subjectivities, as all the while tantra
looms large in the background as the loom on which
the tapestry is woven. So while frustrating all
attempts to attribute to them a cogent cosmological
theory, there is a kind of buoyant, free-floating
quality to their processes of relating to life and the
greater universe. This takes the form of an
unapologetic celebration of the immediacy of
subjective experience and the fluid application of a
variety of mutually exclusive philosophical
viewpoints all simultaneously arrayed before the
reader.
This brief introduction presents, an albeit,
simplistic survey of some of the major thematic
elements that the Tamil Siddhas emphasise and
invariably reinscribe with their own unique visionary
exegesis. It is in this context that this paper touches
upon the irreconcilable social conflict that has raged
outside the Tamil Siddhas and the perpetual role
their imaginative process takes in reconciling the
conflict the rages within.
The Tamil Siddhas remain an ill-defined,
incongruous body of religious specialists found in
the southern part of India whose origins can be only
tenuously traced back to the seventh or eighth
century. Here they form a distinctive part of a larger
14 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003
Layne Little
movement that spread throughout South Asia, from
Sri Lanka in the South to Tibet in the north, between
the seventh and eleventh centuries. Hindu,
Buddhist, and Jain Siddhas everywhere share certain
commonalties mostly in the realm of “(subtle) body
image,” transmutational wonder tales, and physical
and mental manipulations of yogic savvy. All of
them are part of a “pan-Indian tantric yoga
movement” which Eliade described as formulating
over a five hundred year period (between seventh
and eleventh centuries), but fully flowering only
after twelfth century.2
Within the South Asian literary context the name
Siddha originally denoted one of the eighteen
categories of celestial beings. These beings of semi-
divine status were said to be of great purity and their
dwelling was thought to be in the sky between the
earth and the sun. Later they became associated with
a class of more adept human being, often an
accomplished yogi. The term had been derived from
the Sanskrit root sidh meaning “fulfilment” or
“achievement,” so the noun came to refer to one
who had attained perfection. Because the Tamil
Courtesy: http://palani.org
Bhogar instructs Siddhars
language lacks the aspirated consonants of Sanskrit
so the word has been written and pronounced by
the Tamils as cittar. This has led the Tamils to
associate the word more with the Sanskrit term cit,
meaning “consciousness.”3
This appellation is evident even in the Shaivite
devotionals known as the Tevaram hymns of the sixth
and seventh centuries that would later become part
of the Saiva Siddhanta canon. Here the term is
applied not only to one of the 18 categories of divine
beings but also to God Shiva himself, who is a
“cittar” because the very nature of God is
consciousness. Likewise, it describes the devotee as
also being a “cittar” since his consciousness is always
immersed in the divine presence. By the twelfth to
thirteenth century the term has taken on new
meaning as we learn from the writings of temple through the rituals of the priest, the Siddha
Perumparrapuliyar Nambi who describes the God placates the goddess to intercede on his behalf and
Shiva as the cittar alchemist who is working strange expand the consciousness of the Siddha beyond all
miracles in the city of Madurai.4 limitation, where he may become Shiva himself.
Essentially though, the term “siddha” or “cittar” Notions, such as this, being fundamental to the
has the same connotations as it does when referring Tamil Siddha, may have struck the Shaivite
to the 84 Siddhas of Vajrayana Buddhism, the Natha orthodoxy as heretical. But one should not overlook
Siddhas of North India, or the medieval alchemists caste conflict and more terrestrial political dynamics.
known as the Rasa Siddhas. It is a movement born Many of the Tamil Siddha compositions whether
of a synthesis of Vajrayana Buddhism, Shaivite defining philosophical viewpoints, yogic practices, or
Tantrism, Indian Alchemy, magic, and the Hatha presenting alchemical recipes for herbal tinctures and
Yoga and Pranayama disciplines expounded by the base metal amalgams are
ascetic saint Goraknath. Although, in the present riddled with tantric
era, the term is often applied to any form of imagery, references to
unorthodox mystic or saint. And certainly the term Kundalini, and clues to
has a newfound currency amongst (usually non- control the dangerous
Brahmin) Tamil religious organisations and temple feminine power through

Courtesy: http://www.himalayanacademy.com
institutions, as well as the pop-culture yoga breath manipulation or the
institutions flourishing in the west. recitation of the Goddess’s
A perplexing aspect of the Tamil Siddha cult is secret names. Because of
that the text which is identified as the root text of its the enigmatic nature of the
tradition had been also amended to the orthodox Siddha imagery, and their
Saiva Siddhanta canon (Tirumurai) to give the philosophy often being
Siddhantins a philosophical orientation that could structured in direct
hold up against the Sri Vaisnavas’ Vashishtadvaita defiance of human logic,
doctrine of Ramanuja. Though difficult to measure few scholars have ventured
the full extent of interpolation that the text has to address the Tamil
undergone to make it more form-fitting for the Siddhas and then only as
conservative
th
sectarian context, the Tirumantiram (7 - Thirumular mere curiosities. But it
8 century AD) maintains a significant number of seems that the stylistic
references that are unmistakably well rooted in this inconsistencies of the Siddha authors may also have
wider South Asian Tantra/Siddha complex. steered scholars away from these works. There are
Both sectarian groups emphasized different vibrant jewels shining in the rough but even the
aspects of the teaching and could spin a theological more popular siddha works are riddled with endless
line that became more and more widely divergent. repetition, nonsense words that clumsily maintain
The Siddhas would be scoffing at temple worship, the rhyme scheme, and jarring incongruities in the
reliance upon Brahminical authority, and narrative portions of the texts.
proclaiming the injustice of caste; while the Saiva One of the most basic characteristics of Tamil
Siddhantins would berate the Siddhas much as composition, and one that is also relevant to Siddha
M. Srinivasa Iyangar did in 1914 when he wrote that poetry, is the tendency to layer the work so that
the Siddhas are “mostly plagiarists and impostors” each word or image builds upon the last. Because
and in addition, “Being eaters of opium & dwellers each component image is presented so as to be
in the land of dreams, their conceit knew no viewed autonomously and in relationship both
bounds”. At times the Siddhantins have even sequentially and to the totality of the verse, the
engaged in an organised effort to eliminate the images of the poem may appear to some as being
Siddhar faction. For example, one movement, slightly disjointed and contradictory. Though this
observed in the latter half of the nineteenth century, seems to undermine the aesthetic quality and over-
systematically sought out any copy of the writings of complicate the simple act of enjoying poetry, the
the heretical Siddha-poet Sivavakkiyar, and promptly Tamil Siddha compositions pattern this imagery to
destroyed them. expound the subtle complexity of their shifting
The rift between the two orders may have been viewpoint or to map out the terrain of the inner
rooted in the Saiva/Shakta dichotomy that conflated landscape which is dominated by the dormant
gender conflict to cosmic proportions. Many of the serpent energy.
Siddhas propitiate Shakti or the creative potency of While much of the recent explosion of interest in
the primordial essence while Shiva is elevated to a the Siddhas centres around modern invented
(“no-where”) position of absolute abstraction, as he traditions offering tenuous ties to the older
is worshipped as vetta veli or “vast space.” The established Siddha orders, many of these
th
groups did
goddess alone is envisioned in her manifestations5 not come into their own until the 12 century. And
hidden both within the shifting tides of external though the image of a unified succession of Tamil
forms as well as abiding within the body itself. Here Siddha sages is particularly tenuous, Tirumular is
she can be coaxed and subdued, manipulated and pervasively revered in the diverse literary world of
directed. As the serpent power Kundalini, flowing the Tamil Siddhas. The Saiva Siddhantins had
through the subtle body, she can propel the included him as one of the 63 canonised saints or
consciousness of the Siddhar into union with the nayanmars, and his work, the Tirumantiram was
Absolute. Though the orthodox Saiva Siddhantin posthumously represented by them as fully defining
may content himself with the worship of Shiva in the the Tamil Saiva tradition of the time. This text also

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TAMIL SIDDHAS 15

 th
became the 10 book of the Saiva Siddhanta canon,
the Tirumurai. Though it was the one work outlining
the philosophy of the Siddhantins, the sect has
always had a difficult time fully integrating the many
passages which discuss the worship of the Goddess
and the Kundalini Yoga practices so characteristic of
Tantrism. On the other hand, the Siddhas have
viewed these same passages as the most critical in
formulating their esoteric doctrines on the arousal of
the serpent energy.
As we can see in verse 730, the Siddhantins were

Courtesy: http://palani.org
confronted with the tantric orientation of their
philosopher Tirumular, when he relates that it is the
human body itself that is the temple of the Goddess
Shakti...
In Shakti’s temple
if you control
the left and the right Kalangi Nathar teaches Bhogar Siddhar
you can hear a lute
in the centre of your face. is equally viable in that Ganesha, the elephant-
And Shiva will come out headed god of gateways and new beginnings, is said
dancing sweetly.
to reside in the body at the base of the spine, at the
I swear upon Sada Nandi
root chakra Muladhara where the two currents flow
we have spoken the truth.
together and enter central current Shashumna.
Here Tirumular discusses the basis of Kundalini Shashumna is sometimes envisioned as the trunk of
Yoga whereby the breath, carrying one of the vital Ganesha raised aloft and holding the full-blown lotus
airs known as prana, flows into the solar and lunar of enlightenment, Sahasrara, at the crown of the
currents which run from the right and left nostrils head. What is eaten is amrita, conceived of as both
down to the base of the spine and are there brought the nectar of spiritual ecstasy and the elixir of
into union. The point of this union is at the root immortality.
chakra Muladhara, the first of six chakras or nerve Tantra appears in its more seminal form around
plexuses through which the Kundalini energy will th
the 4 century, but its real beginnings seem to reach
flow. This energy is moved by the union of these back much earlier.6 Elements of tantric thought had
solar and lunar streams of vital breath that have already pervaded the south by the time of Tirumular,
entered the central current at Muladhara and will as they had seeped into yogic theory and practice at
ascend upwards through the six chakras, each some antecedent time and even impacted temple
corresponding to a higher and more expansive state ritual and the budding bhakti cults. Tantra was more
of consciousness. The individual awareness is deeply rooted in a fluid set of symbolic constructs
sublimated into divine union at the crown of the than a static enunciation of doctrine. It represents a
head. It is a kind of inner journey towards the profound refinement of the symbol systems of
infinitude of the Divine, but begins only after the Hindu-Buddhist South Asia. It’s emphasis on the
two streams flow into the central current as we learn experiential aspects of the individual’s religious
from verse 801 of the Tirumantiram... experience collided with the Shaivite orthodoxy like
Left hand the Gnostic heresy did with the early Christian
Right hand Church as it sought to establish an internal self-
Both hands... policing system of sanctioning only those subjective
Change!
He who eats experiences that towed the orthodox line.
with the hand of worship In an effort to demonstrate that the macrocosm is
need not be depleted. reflected within the microcosm, Tantra began to
The conscious ones emphasise that the universe, in all its totality, is
capable of abandoning sleep contained within the body of the individual. It
need not die... superimposed universal symbols over the human
they can live forever. body to help demonstrate this relationship. The
Kundalini Yoga
The term used spine, along which the shashumna or central
to denote the channel ran, became the cosmic axis. All the Gods
‘hand of worship’ that oversaw the mechanism that is this universe
is Tutikkai. Tuti is a were hidden in the lotus centres of the body’s
chakras, like blossoms flowering on the vine of the
Courtesy: Victor M. Fic’s The Tantra (2003)

verb meaning “to

worship,” kai is spine. But it was the portly god Ganesha, who
the noun meaning guarded the gate to the inner world. He became a
“hand”. Together, patron of Kundalini yoga in the South and was
as Tutikkai, the invoked by the female Siddhath
mendicant Auvaiyar,
expression also in this excerpt from her 14 century work Vinayagar
means the Agaval. Here she relates how the elephant-headed
“elephant’s trunk.” god has reconciled the dualistic nature of the
This interpretation universe as the various manifestations of Shiva were

16 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003

 taught to be part of her inner savouring. for the appropriate chakra.
He has concentrated my mind, If the basis of Muladhara
clarified my intellect, is perfected...
and said, You can go anywhere,
“Light and Darkness wandering freely
share a common place.” throughout the three worlds.
He presses me down The dull-hued body
into the grace giving ecstasy. will mellow
In my ear and shine.
he renders limitless bliss. All impurities
He has revealed Sada Shiva will be removed
within the sound. and the six chakras
He has revealed the Shiva Lingam will become visible
within the mind. to the eye.
And he has revealed that... The gold-coloured alchemy
The smaller than the smallest, will heed your every word.
The larger that the largest, In the Sleepless Sleep
stands within... all subtlety
like ripe sugarcane. can be perceived.
In about 1661, as Aurangzeb set about to expand Look and see.
his kingdom throughout the subcontinent and free In a particularly odd verse of Bhogar, we find
the land of heretics, he was at the same time him describing a visionary experience involving the
extending his protection to an obscure Hindu ingestion of an unidentified substance and the
monastery in the Punjab. At the time in question wearing of mercurial amalgams.
Anand Nath, the abbot of the monastery and a 80 Bhogar’s Leap Into the Universe
Natha Siddha alchemist, was providing “the greatest As the Principle of Intelligence itself
Mogal persecutor of I leapt into the cosmos.
Hinduism in history” a Shiva clearly elucidated
regular supply of treated the nature of this universe.
Courtesy: Victor M. Fic’s The Tantra (2003, New Delhi: Abhinav Publications)

mercury which promised For the sake of all beings

to confer longevity.7 there is a path
that becomes a vehicle
Simultaneously in the for the five senses.
deep south the Tamil The universe that appeared before me
Siddha alchemist Bhogar, was arranged in layers.
who had supposedly Grandfather (Tirumular) said,
migrated from China8 “Enter the tenth one.”
along with his guru I took what was given me10
Kalangi Nathar, was and put it in my mouth.
purportedly establishing a And a bunch
shrine to the God of mercurial amalgams
Murugan on the top of I tied onto my wrist.
Palani Hill.9 It was here Off I went.
that he is thought to have Entering the universe
composed his 7000 verses of fire and light.
on Kundalini Yoga, Consciousness was seen to ride the vehicle of
The Serpent Power Kundalini
alchemy, and Siddha breath into union with the absolute in the Sahasrara
medicine. By medieval times Indian alchemy had Chakra at the top of the head. The Siddha could,
come into vogue much like tantra had done almost a through the intercession of the Goddess, placated by
millennium earlier. And though the Indian manipulation of the breath, expand consciousness to
alchemists also sought to develop the chemical the point where it becomes what is called the Maha
processes of transforming base metals into gold as in Citta or “Great Awareness” which is the God Shiva
Europe and the Middle East, they often emphasised himself. Here is one of the closing verses of Bhogar’s
the pursuit of bodily perfection and the preparation discussion of Kundalini Yoga…
of the elixir of immortality as the Chinese alchemists 94
had sought. They often viewed their experience of Invite the breath,
the outer space,
the inner processes of Kundalini Yoga as mirroring to come within your house.
the chemical process of the alchemical work.
Nearly a thousand years after Tirumular, Bhogar If you are unwavering,
placing it there
is still wrestling with the serpent energy, even in the as though you were
midst of his alchemical operations. Though now, the putting oil in a lamp,...
Kundalini is personified as the consort of Ganesha, They shall meet.
the Goddess Vallabai... Breath and God
9 becoming one.
The green-hued Vallabai Like wind becoming breath
will become subservient there is no individual intelligence.
and bow down. The Great Awareness becomes Siva.
She’ll tell you He and breath
the appropriate time merge into one.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TAMIL SIDDHAS 17

 It is this light becoming breath In this poem Ramalingar praises Manikkavasagar and
that redeems the soul. weaves his verse with a complex echoing of sound as
Surely this is the truth he speaks again and again of the sweetness of his
of Siva Yoga! mystic absorption experienced when hearing the
In the last century the poet-saint Ramaligar had poetry of the saint. This fervent merging, savoured
much to do with bridging the Siddha-Saiva gap and by the ecstatic Ramalingar is described with the
making the Siddhas more palatable to the adverbial participle kalantha, from the verb root kala
mainstream Tamil religious world.11 Ramalingar was meaning “to flow together”, “to make as one”, as it
born in 1823 near Chidambaram, arguably the also denotes a sexual union.
greatest of all Saivite temples. Naturally, the One with sky Manikkavasagar,
heretical nature of his teaching and the growing your words...
number of his disciples caused the protest of temple One with me when I sing
officials and a variety of Saiva Siddhanta institutions Nectar of sugarcane
throughout the region. Eventually they were forced One with honey
to call in Arumuga Navalar from Jaffna to put an end One with milk
to Ramalingar. As a Tamil scholar and Saivite and one with the sweetness
of the fertile fruit
authority, the One with my flesh
orthodox religious One with my soul
leaders throughout Insatiable
the area, were is that sweetness!
confident that he
Although Ramalingar’s hymns were penned in
could expose the
praise of the God Siva, they were often addressed to
Courtesy: http://members.tripod.com

fallacy of a feminine audience with unqualified personal

Ramalingar’s teaching
designations such as ‘Amma’ or ‘Akka’, ‘Mother’ or
and defrock the
‘Sister’. Perhaps indicating that the hymn was meant
heretical saint. for an internal, intimate and distinctly feminine force
Arumuga quickly set
that could propel the invocation along the proper
about organising
channels of the inner cosmos, towards Siva’s secret
public meetings to abode.
provide a platform on
The fact that his songs began to be sung in the
which to abuse
Pambatti Siddhar schools, villages and even the temples of 19th century
Ramalingar and a Chennai, began to outrage the orthodox Saiva
horde of pamphlets were circulated issuing public
Siddhantins in the area. He, as with many
warning about this dangerous little man. Eventually
outspoken Tamil Siddhas, was somewhat
though, Arumuga was forced to take legal action and iconoclastic, not adequately deferential to temple or
filed a suit against the saint. The gentle Ramalingar
Brahminical tradition. He did not perpetuate the
was dragged into court, but eloquently speaking in
traditional modes of linga worship. Forgoing the
his own defense, easily won the case. objectified image by capturing the subjective gaze
The nature of Ramalingar’s heresy is found to be
itself, he perpetrated the greatest of heresies by
all the more insidious when we learn that he also
blatantly revealing the true face of God veiled within
cherished and called his own the devotional hymns volumes of tantric lore. At the shrine he established
of Saiva Siddhanta saints other than Tirumular. One
at Vadalur, behind the curtain that housed the holy
of these, sometimes hailed as the 64th nayanmar, was
of holies, he established a single flame’s light to
Manikkavasagar, who had a profound influence on illuminate a mirror that would reflect the image of
Ramalingar and Siddha devotionalism in general.
the worshipper as the secret face of god and final
Manikkavasagar’s name thmeans “He who’s utterances
mystery of the Tamil Siddhas.
are rubies” and in the 9 century he beautifully
wrote this mini creation myth in flowing verse...
Becoming sky and earth,
Wind and light…
Becoming flesh and spirit,
All that truly is
and all that which is not
Becoming the Lord…
He makes those who say,
“I” and “mine”
Dance in the show.
Becoming sky,
and standing there...
How can I
Courtesy: http://palani.org

praise Him?
In this final work of Ramalingar, we see a
different side of the heretical Siddhas. Not the
enigmatic ramblings or harsh riddles of the ascetic,
but a tender ode, that views the Siddha’s experience
of union as the distilled essence of life’s sweetness. Bhogar Siddhar

18 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003

Notes
1. This introduction to the Tamil Siddhas was written
nearly ten years ago and reflects many of the
misconceptions surrounding the siddhas that were popular
at the time. Also its circulation on the internet surely
added to over simplifying the subject with faults that are
entirely my own. I’ve tried to briefly rectify the overtly
erroneous statements that I had made and have attempted
to elaborate on some of the more reductionistic portions of
this work.
2. Most of the Tamil Siddha works popular today were
written only in the last two centuries. A significant
percentage of works purported to be “rediscovered” are
modern forgeries.
3. R. Venkataraman, 1990: 1, 2.
4. Ibid.: 3. See the Tiruvilaiyadal sections 13, 42 & 45.
5. As Manonmani, Valai, Vallabai, Parai, Parapparai, etc.
6. Some see the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad as containing
enough of the key elements of tantric cosmology to represent
the earliest strain of a definitive Tantric tradition complete
with the hitta functioning as a proto- shashumna nadi,
anticipating the more elaborate kundalini system to come.
7. David Gordon White, 1996: 1, 9.
8. Bhogar’s 7000 tells of his repeated visits to China but
does not provide even a single cultural detail that
demonstrates he has any first hand knowledge of the
region, it’s customs, etc. Now in popular secondary
sources on the Tamil Siddhas the China origin of Bhogar is
strongly refuted with the characteristic nationalistic fervour
of the present day.
FOLK MEDICINAL WISDOM OF
CHITTOOR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH
S.Vedavathy is President of Herbal Folklore Research Centre at
Tirupati. The author can be contacted at vedavathy@hotmail.com
S
ome of the folk medicinal treasures found in
Chittoor district in Andhra Pradhesh are given
here:
Tagubothulaku Natu Mandu (Psidium gujava) -
Myrtaceae (Medicine for alcohol addicts)
Leaf juice is secretly added with alcohol and given to the
person who is addicted to alcohol. The person starts vomiting
and feels irritation. If the therapy is repeated two or three
times, the person develops a sort of aversion towards alcohol.
(For willing patients who want to give up alcohol different
therapy is administered )
Vavili (Vitex negundo) and Allamu (Zingeber
oficinale) (Onti Talanoppi - Migraine)
Juice extracted from the leaves of vavili and rhizome of
allamu is mixed in equal proportions and few drops of the
juice are instilled into the nostrils to cure migraine.
Kanuga (Pongamia pinnata) – Fabaceae
(Keella noppulu & Ollu noppulu - Arthritis and Body Pains)
The root bark boiled in gingely oil is stored in earthen pot
and given to patients suffering from chronic body pain and
arthritis. The oil is given both internally and applied on
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TAMIL SIDDHAS
9. Bhogar makes no mention of Palani in his 7000 and
has always been associated in the Tamil Siddha literature
with Sathuragiri mountain. Further, the Palanitalapuranam
(the Mythic History of Palani) makes no mention of its
supposed founder (though it does make passing reference
to Gorakhnath).
10. Presumably he is referring to one of his gulikais, a
pill often made of treaded mercury in solid form.
11. Another notable entry into the modern literary
sphere comes when freedom-fighting poet, Subramaniya
Bharathi, called himself a “cittar,” invoking a religious-
revolutionary persona that was intrinsically “Tamil.”
References
Eliade, Mircea, 1969. Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.
Princeton: Bollingen.
Francis, T. Dayanandan, 1990. The Mission and Message of
Ramalinga Swamy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Little, Layne, 1994. Shaking the Tree: Kundalini Yoga,
Spiritual Alchemy, and the Mysteries of the Breath in
Bhogar’s 7000. Available also at http://www.levity.com/
alchemy/...
Venkataraman, R., 1990. A History of the Tamil Siddha Cult.
Madurai: Ennes Publications.
White, David Gordon, 1996.The Alchemical Body: Siddha
Traditions in Medieval India. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Zvelebil, Kamil V., 1973. The Poets of the Powers. London:
Rider.
——1975. Tamil Literature. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
S. Vedavathy
the affected parts also. This therapy is called as mandhu
noone and the Gesthampalli village is famous for it.
Medicine for Emukalu virigithe - Bone fracture
Every village in the Chittoor district has one medicine man
who knows the treatment for dislocated and broken bones.
The two centres in the district, one at Puttur and another
at Kalluru, have become famous because of the devoted
families. The people in these centres are service oriented
and they do not accept money for their service.
Jatamansi - (Nardostachys jatamansi) -
Valerianaceae
(Gundello nemmu -
Pneumonia)
Decoction of the root powder
is given two or three times a
day and it is continued until
the fever subsides. Wheat
powder mixed in Calotropis
leaf juice is applied on the
chest to prevent pleurisy
Photo by the Author
Saraswathi aku (Centella
asiatica) - Apiaceae
(Teliviki - Brain Tonic)
Dried plant is powdered along
with Piper nigrum seeds in 10:1 Saramma, an expert in curing
ratio and a mixture of 2 to 3 dog bite & snake bite
19
 Root bark of Kasinatha (Cassia occidentalis) -
Caesalpiniaceae
Enugukalu (Filariosis)
A spoonful of paste made with ghee is given twice a day
Photo by the Author

and Mimosa pudica leaf paste is applied on the affected feet

until relief is achieved.
Fruit rind of Dhanimma (Punica granatum),
Punicacease, Alum and Camphor
An Yanadi woman with
(Rommulu gattipadataniki - Large, Hard breast)
‘Madana Kameswari‘ plant The fruit rind is made into paste with alum and camphor in
8:2 proportion. The paste is applied over the breast late in
spoons of the powder and a glass of cow’s milk is given in
the early morning. The Somala village is famous for this the evening and bandaged. The bandage is removed in the
therapy. morning. This is repeated for a period of two weeks.

Seeds of Sompu (Foeniculum vulgare), leaves of Nelausiri (Phyllanthus amarus) - Euphorbiaceae

Pasiricalaku (Jaundice)
Tamala paku (Piper betel) and Honey
(Recheekati - Night blindness) A spoonful of paste is given early in the morning on an
empty stomach along with buttermilk. This is repeated,
All the plant parts in equal proportions are added with depending upon the condition of the patient, for a week or
honey to make paste. The paste is kept
a fortnight.
in a clean bottle and the paste is applied
on the eyes daily. Stem bark of Tellamadhi (Terminalia
arjuna) - Combretaceae
Cotyledons of Gacchakai
(Rakthapotuku -Hypertension)
(Caesalpinia crista), roots of
Bark decoction with milk is given to the
Reppala (Wrightia tinctoria) and
Photo by the Author

patient in the early morning.

seeds of Pokalu (Areca catechu)
(Moorcha - Epilepsy) Leaves of Saraswathi aku (Centella
The plant parts in equal proportion are asiatica), dried rhizome of Allamu
mixed with old jaggery and made into (Zingeber officinale) and fruits of
paste with water. A soap nut size paste Kalluru, bone setting Pipallu (Piper longum) (Clear Voice)
is given daily for a fortnight. The plant parts mixed in equal
Leaves of Veduru (Bambusa arundinacea) - Graminae proportions are dried in shade and powdered. Half a
(To remove a dead child from the womb) spoonful of powder with honey is given for forty days.

Leaf paste mixed with water is given to women for whom Leaves of Banyan (Ficus bhengalensis)
delivery becomes difficult leading to the death of the child (Healing wounds and binding damaged tissues)
in the womb. The tender leaves are warmed in fire and wrapped around
the wound or any deep cut and then the wound or deep
Adavimalathi (Aganosma dichotoma) - Apocynaceae
cut is bandaged.
(Mutrasayamlo rallu - Stones in the urinary tract and bladder)
Root powder is given with milk in the early morning for a Latex of Banyan (Ficus bhengalensis) and fruit
period of two weeks. decoction of Myrobalan (Terminalia chebula)
(Healing wounds)
Tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) - Lamiaceae
(Chali jwaram - Malaria) The wound is washed with the Myrobalan fruit
decoction and the entire wound is drenched with the
A glass of root decoction is given twice a day to subside the
latex obtained by cutting the new branches of Banyan
malarial fever in 4 or 5 days.
tree. The fresh latex is poured on the wound by
Gurivinda (Abrus precatorius) - Fabaceae holding the cut branches on the wound. For noothi or
(Pandu rogam - Leucoderma) chronic ulcer, the latex is taken internally daily in a
Leaf juice is applied on the white patches and exposed to prescribed quantity.
the sun for an hour. Within two to three months the white
patches will disappear and turn into the colour of the skin.
Ravi (Ficus religiosa) - Moraceae
(Nallamanduku virugudu - drug addicts (Bhang and Opium)
Decoction of stem bark is given for relief.
Vayuvidangalu (Embelia ribes), fruits of Terminalia
chebula, Terminalia bellerica, Emblica officinalis and
Photo by the Author

latex of Calotropis gigantea

(Sanna jeevalu rakunda - To drive away rats, scorpions and
mosquitoes)
The plant parts are dried and powdered when the powder is
Yanadi people on the way to
burned its fume drives away mosquitoes, rats and scorpions. plant and animal collection

20 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003


GREEN HEALTH BOOM
Darshan Shankar
A. V. Balasubramanian
Darshan Shankar is Director, Foundation for Revitalisation of
Local Health Traditions, Bangalore. The author can be contacted
at darshan.shankar@frlht.org.in
A.V. Balasubramanian is Director, Centre for Indian Knowledge
Systems, Chennai. The author can be contacted at ciks@vsnl.com
While each of the six disciples prepared a
compendium of Ayurveda, Agnivesha’s work is the
most outstanding. It has been redacted by Charaka
and then by Drdhabala, and is known today as the
Charaka Samhita.
At the folk level, in every ecosystem from the
trans-Himalayas to the coast, local communities have
keenly studied the medicinal plants found in their
locality. Every 100 km or so, throughout the country,
one can observe variation in ethnic names and use of
local species, indicating the intimate and independent
appraisal that local communities have made of their
local resources. Striking illustrations of ecosystem
knowledge include the Thakur tribals of coastal
Maharashtra, who use over 500 species of plants,
including 168 trees, 207 shrubs and herbs, 105
climbers and creepers, 13 grasses and 16 lower
plants. Even in this day of increasing spread of

T
allopathic medicines, there are hundreds of millions
he words of a tribal song say: “I love the
forests, they keep me, my animals and my
fields healthy . . .” Biodiversity and health are
intrinsically linked. This link can be clearly seen,
firstly, if we understand the basics of biodiversity
itself. A variety of life forms exist and flourish across
diverse ecosystems: mountains, coasts, seas, forests,
lakes and rivers, and so on. Millions of species of
plants, animals and micro-organisms exist in a
“healthy” way in their own natural habitats. Health is
Graphics by the Authors

therefore implied in the very “existence” of

biodiversity.
From this simple yet powerful principle, flows an
understanding of the relationship of biodiversity to
human health.
Biodiversity-based health traditions
From 1986 to 1996, an All India Coordinated Research Note: The outer box represents the total folk (e.g. tribal)
Project on Ethnobiology was carried out by the usage, which is not necessarily codified into formal
Department of Environment of the Indian systems; the inner circles are of the formal systems.
government. This project concluded that tribal
communities alone (who constitute only a small
percentage of our population) use over 9,000 species of people in India who are dependent on biodiversity
of wild plants, of which the single largest use for their health needs (see Table). Indeed, the World
category - medicinal plants - number over 7,500 Health Organisation estimates that four-fifths of the
species. Besides this, 3,900 are for edible use, 700 for world’s population uses nature for a substantial part
material and cultural requirements, 525 for fibre and of its medicinal and health requirements.
cordage, 400 as fodder, 300 as pesticides, 300 as gums The distinctive health traditions of diverse
and dyes, and 100 as incense and perfume. communities in India, are partly based on the distinct
There is a verse in the Ayurveda classic Charaka ecological niches that different medicinal plants
Samhita that explains how local communities occupy. So for instance, plants like Aconitum violaceum
understood and explored nature’s gift of medicinal and Rheum spiciforme, are found in the trans-
plants: “Yasmin deshe tu yo jaatah tasmin tajjoshadham Himalayan areas; Acacia senegal and Capparis decidua in
hitam”. “Nature is so (benevolently) organised that it
has provided every micro-environment, the natural
resources (in the form of plants, animals and Folk medicine: a continuing tradition
minerals) necessary for the typical health needs of the
people living in that environment.” Traditional Carrier Subject/Usage Number of users*
Another tale from ancient texts is even more Housewives and elders Home remedies Millions
powerful. Punarvasu Atreya, the distinguished Food and nutrition
Ayurvedic Aachaarya had six disciples, namely, Traditional birth attendants Normal deliveries 7 lakhs
Agnivesha, Bhela, Jatukarna, Parasara, Haritha and Herbal healers Common ailments 3 lakhs
Ksarapani. It is said that on one occasion, the
Bone-setters Orthopaedics 60,000
Aachaarya assembled all his disciples and bid them to
set forth in various different directions. Their task Visha Vaidyas Natural poisons 60,000
Graphics by the Authors

(Snake, scorpion, dog)

was to return with all the plants they encountered,
that had no medicinal use. While five disciples came Specialists Eyes, Skin, 1000 in each area
Respiratory, Dental,
back with several plants, Agnivesha returned empty Arthritis, Liver,
handed. He said that every single plant that he Mental Diseases,
examined had some medicinal use. Agnivesha was GIT, Wounds,
Fistula, Piles
thus considered the foremost disciple of Atreya.

G R E E N H E A LT H B O O M 21
 the desert regions of Rajasthan; water plants like
Ipomoea aquatica in the Konkan areas of Maharashtra;
Cassia fistula and Anogeissus latifolia in the deciduous
forests of the Deccan; Capparis aphylla and Balanites
roxburgii in the scrub jungles of Karnataka; Myristica
malabarica and Vateria indica in the swamps of the
western coast; Pandanus tectorius and Thespesia
populnea in the coasts of Kerala; and so on.
Nature has also situated bio-resources almost as if
knowing what humans needed. To illustrate, Neem
(Azadarichta indica), occurring in dry, arid and hot
habitats, has cooling properties, ideally suited to
correct the health imbalances that could occur in such
environments. The plant Epedera vulgaris, occurring
only in high altitudes, has a broncho-dilatory
property, very useful in rarefied atmospheres.
Traditional communities have used biodiversity
not only to deal with the health needs of humans,
but also those of livestock and for needs of crop
plants in agriculture. And if one were to take a less
human-centred attitude, one would realise that the
diversity of life itself is a major component of the
health of natural ecosystems, and in turn healthy
ecosystems provide the conditions for plant and
animal species to flourish.
Though not very systematically documented,
there is a clear relationship between biologically
diverse agriculture, and human/livestock health. The
most obvious link is nutrition; ask elders in any
village, and they will tell you how their traditional
diversity of food was so much more nutritious than
what is available from the markets now. Across large
parts of India (though there were also traditional
pockets of malnutrition and under-nutrition),
traditional agriculture provided a range of crops,
livestock-related products, semi-wild species (such as
shrimps and frogs in paddy fields), and other inputs
(see article on Agricultural Biodiversity, in this issue).
Various nutritional inputs needed by the human
body, were provided by such a diversity of produce.
With the change in agricultural systems to
monocultural plantations, this diversity and the
related nutrition are lost, and the replacements from
the market do not necessarily make up for this. On
top of this loss, the use of chemicals creates other
health problems!
Biodiversity loss, health and culture
When biodiversity is destroyed or eroded, as is
happening with alarming rapidity across the world,
the health of ecosystems as a whole and of their
individual members is affected. Health and
biodiversity links are a sub-set of the larger
relationship between biodiversity and cultural
diversity, so the loss of cultural diversity in the face
of the increasing spread of “modern” monocultural
systems, also leads to a direct loss of people’s
knowledge that relates biodiversity with health. The
spread of the lure of allopathic medicine is so strong,
that even in remote areas, villagers are beginning to
prefer the pill and the injection over plant-based
medicine. A cheap and locally available input is being
replaced by an expensive, externally controlled one.
This is not to say that all health problems can be
tackled by local traditional health systems, or that
biodiversity has the answer for all diseases, but
simply that haphazard replacement of such systems
by allopathic ones creates serious imbalances and loss
of control.
22 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003
Unfortunately, whereas there are many studies
on the specific bio-resources used by ecosystem
people for health needs, there are hardly any studies
that have shown the epidemological effects on
humans and other species, due to loss or disturbance
of natural habitats. The economic value of such
functions, and of medicinal plants, to human health
and welfare, have also not been estimated. Take the
example of just one use of one plant, the neem. Half
a billion people still use neem branchlets as a
toothbrush. To replace this with a commercially
available toothbrush and toothpaste, they would have
to spend about Re.1 each, per day per person. This
means that the value of neem datuns alone is a billion
rupees per day. Add to this the hundreds of other
uses of neem, and its value would be magnitudes
more than the medicinal exports of India.
It is to be hoped that the new-found enthusiasm
of the Indian government, illustrated in the setting
up of a National Medicinal Plants Board, would
encompass such studies and related action, though
this is not yet clear from the mandate of the Board.
It is in this context, that the ongoing National
Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP)
process (see Introductory essay) is attempting to
bring back focus on the above issues. A specialist
Thematic Working Group is drafting a national level
action plan on Biodiversity and Health. At many of
the State and substate levels at which the NBSAP
process is being carried out, medicinal plants and
health traditions, are a key focus. At Vidarbha,
Maharashtra, for instance, a people’s health
organisation is doing a series of consultations with
villagers, government officials and NGOs, to prepare
a plan to conserve the biodiversity of the region and
thereby secure the livelihoods, health, and security of
lakhs of villagers.
Biodiversity, nutrition and health
The link between biodiversity-based nutrition and
health in dramatically illustrated in two examples. In
the mid 1990s, the area Melghat region in eastern
Maharashtra was rocked by a few hundred deaths of
tribal children, caused by malnutrition during
drought seasons. It was soon found that children
inside the forests of the Melghat Tiger Reserve had a
much smaller incidence of this than those outside,
and that this was because they still had access to a
diversity of forest foods (tubers, fruits, etc.) even
when agriculture had failed.
In the lush Biligiri Hills of Karnataka, doctors
have found that Soliga tribals inside the Billigiri
Ranganaswamy Temple Sanctuary have a much better
health profile than their counterparts in the adjacent
villages and towns, despite having much less access
to “modern” health facilities. for instance, there was
no instance of appendicitis, colonic cancers, sexual
diseases, and other stress-induced illnesses. The
reason, again, was access to a diversity of wild and
semi-wild foods, and the natural surrounds in which
they lived. The Soligas also use over 300 herbs for
medicinal purposes.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
This article was originally published in The Hindu
Sunday Folio dated May 20, 2001.
We sincerely thank the Editor of The Hindu for
giving us permission to print this article.

THE OVERLAPPING
DOMAINS OF MUSIC
AND MEDICINE
Healing Sounds from the Malaysian Rainforest: Temiar Music and
Medicine by Marina Roseman (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London:
University of California Press, 1993. pages xviii + 234)
M. Ramakrishnan is Programme Officer for
Publications at the National Folklore Support Centre.
T
his thought provoking ethnomusicological
research of Marina Roseman, Professor of
Music and of Anthropology at the University
of Pennsylvania, delineates the role of sound in the
healing performances of Temiar, an ethnic community
living in the Malaysian rainforest. This study is an
outcome of Roseman’s twenty-month field research
among the Temiars of Ulu Kelantan between 1981 and
1982. During her stay in the field she has
observed, recorded and participated in
numerous singing and trance-dancing
ceremonies. The Temiar community
belongs to the Senoi ethnic division of the
Aboriginal Orang Asli of peninsular
Malaysia. The Temiars speak the
Austroasiatic, Mon-Khmer language of
Central Aslian stock. Living in small
settlements of 25 to 150 inhabitants along
the five major rivers, they are basically
horticulturalists who cultivate tapioca, hill
rice, maize, millet, and other crops. They
also hunt, fish, gather jungle products for
their own use and also for exchange. The
relatively egalitarian Temiars live in the
agamous type of villages, that is, the
inhabitants are allowed to marry within or outside
the village group. Marriage or kinship links the
villages that consist of extended families with a core
sibling group. Generally, the elders of the core sibling
group play a major role as village leaders. Roseman
points out that some of them even today receive
additional sanction as headman from the Department
of Orang Asli Affairs.
The economic system practised by the Temiars
allows for generalised reciprocity in which food,
manufactured implements, and labour are given to
others with the expectation that other members will
be equally generous in the future.
Through her research Roseman has explored not
only the articulation between the Temiar concept of
illness and their strategies of diagnosis and treatment
but also the indigenous ideas about musical
composition, performance. For her, the healing
performances provided an entry point into the
domain of Temiar illness and well-being, letting
performance acts and native exegesis. It also helped
her to understand the relations between humans and
the rainforest environment, as well as the
relationship of the self with society and cosmos.
Roseman has analysed the ceremonial
performances of Temiars in terms of Symbolic
Structure, Value Structure, Role Structure, and
Book Review
Emergent
Structure. In order
to understand the
moment of
articulation
between medical
and musical
domains
exemplified by
healing A view of Temiar settlement
ceremonies,
Roseman has integrated theories from interpretative
anthropology and performance theory with
ethnomedicine and ethnomusicology. The
ethnomedical approach, which studies how particular
groups of people conceptualise and deal with the
concept of health and illness, facilitated Roseman to
say that ‘illness experiences, practicener-patient
transaction and the healing process are sociocultural
phenomena, constituting the health care system, a
cultural system integrating interrelated with local
patterns of meaning, power, and social interaction.’
For the Temiars, the relationship
between the detachable souls among
humans (head and heart souls), plants
(leaf and root souls), animals (upper
and lower souls), and landforms (such
as summit and underground souls of
mountains) ‘enables dream and trance
encounters, promoting song
composition and precipitating illness.’
A major technique of healing involves
singing/ trance-dancing ceremonies in
which mediums sing tunes and texts
given to them during dream by
spiritguides. They conceptualise the
concept of illness in terms of the path
in the jungle, that is, a lost or waylaid
detached head soul can cause illness is
similar to getting lost or losing paths
can be fatal for a person. During the ceremonial
singing as a treatment, the lost soul should be shown
the ‘right’ path and led it back home. This symbolic
power of the image of the path arises from their daily
travel along land and river routes running through
the jungle and settlement. It is believed that the souls
of other entities can meet the detachable soul of the
dreamer and can express their desire to become the
dreamer’s spiritguide. This is confirmed through the
bestowal of a song from the
spiritguide to the dreamer.
The ceremonial performance
links the person and
spiritguide, which transforms
the dreamer into a medium for
the spirits to diagnose and
treat illness. The Temiar songs
are considered ‘paths’ that
link mediums, female chorus
members, trance-dancers, and
patients with the spirits of the
jungle and the settlement.
Even the treatment of less
serious cases, which occurs
outside the ceremonial
A Temiar man stands as medium
context, involves singing by
the medium.
MUSIC AND MEDICINE 23
 Indian Folklife Regd. No. R.N. TNENG / 2001 / 5251
ISSN 0972-6470

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Published by M.D. Muthukumaraswamy for National Folklore Support Centre, No.7, Fifth Cross Street, Rajalakshmi Nagar,
Velachery, Chennai - 600 042 (India), and printed by M.S. Raju Seshadrinathan at Nagaraj and Company Pvt. Ltd., # 22 (153-A),
Kalki Krishnamurthy Salai, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai 600 041, (For free private circulation only). Editor: M.D. Muthukumaraswamy

24 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 SERIAL NO. 13 ISSUE 4 APRIL-JUNE 2003