CV
S.P. Anandan est le fondateur de Foundation for Research and Sustainable Development located in Madurai. Il participe à divers programmes gouvernementaux sur la biodiversité, notamment sur les espèces botanique en danger, et donne des communications dans des universités et des ONG.
Résumé du projet sur la médecine siddha
Cittarkal and ancient rock-cut caves of Saduragiri Hills, Western Ghats
Among the eighteen cittarkal belonging to the Tamil tradition, there were many who travelled to the hills
of the western ghats in Tamilnadu, and chose to live and to meditate there, in rock-cut caves. Thanks to
their supernatural powers (cittikkal), they adapted themselves without difficulty to the environmental
conditions of these caves. There are dozens of caves located in the Saduragiri hills of the western ghats;
each of them bearing the name of a cittar. For example, korakkarkuntam is a rock-cut cave in the Saduragiri
hills where the cittar Korakkar is believed to have prepared his panacea for prolonging life. As in earlier
times when cittarkal used to meditate in caves with the help of kayakalpam, prepared from the herbs of the
hills, some hermits continue to frequent these caves and to collect medicinal plants and sacred trees.
My paper is the result of a biological survey carried out to document endangered medicinal plants endemic
to the Saduragiri hills; it was whilst this survey was in progress that the caves were spotted. I have
studied the environment of sixteen caves in the hills and I have biologically listed the rare and
endangered medicinal plants in the ecosystem.
CV
T. Anandan est chercheur au Council Research Institute for Siddha, Chennai. Il a été nommé récemment Directeur de cet institut en remplacement du Dr Velusamy.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
The transformation in the practice, education and research on siddha system of medicine consequent
of the social changes
The practice of siddha medicine has undergone radical change both in the preparation of medicine and in
the pharmaceutical forms in which the medicine is administered. In this era, in order to achieve the goal
of global acceptance and of advancement in the field of medicine, education, practice and research have
experienced greater changes according to the guidelines issued by WHO. These changes will be discussed
in detail.
CV
Niklas Thode Jensen est étudiant en thèse d'histoire à l'Université de Copenhague. Grâce au programme Erasmus/Socrates, il a été un an à School of Oriental and African Studies, London et à Wellcome Institute, London. Son centre d'intérêt concerne l'étude historique du colonialisme, domaine suer lequel il a écrit quelques écrits.
Résumé du projet sur la médecine siddha
The Tranquebar Connection: Encounters of medicine and science in the Danish East-Indies,
1700-1850
From its inception in the 17th century the medical corps was an important element in the Danish East India
Company and in the company’s main colony in South India, Tranquebar. In the 18th and first half of the 19th
century the medical world of Tranquebar consisted of three groups: the surgeons employed by the company;
the medical doctors of the protestant Danish-Halle mission; and the practitioners of traditional Indian
medicine. This project will investigate the encounters and interactions between these groups of European
and Indian doctors; between the doctors and the various groups in Tranquebarian society; and between their
diverse forms of healing and perceptions of illness (suffering) and sickness (disease).Investigating these
encounters the project will provide significant information about living conditions and health problems
in colonial South India as well as about the indigenous forms of healing, for instance Siddha medicine.
It will also shed light on the scientific achievements of the doctors in Tranquebar, many of whom were
doing research in the natural sciences. Through their connections to Indian doctors, princes, and scientist
of other colonial nations on the subcontinent and in colonies around the world, Tranquebar became a hub of
science. It can be styled The Tranquebar Connection.
CV
N. Lalitha est Professeur Associé en Economie, au Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad. Elle a participé à un projet sur l'accès à la médecine au Tamil Nadu. Son champ de recherche concerne les Droits à la propriété intellectuelle dans les domaines de l'industrie et de la pharmacie. Elle a donné de nombreuses communications sur ce domaine et a publié de nombreux articles dans les journaux spécialisés en Economie et en Sociologie.
Résumé du projet sur la médecine siddha
Challenges in Protecting the Traditional System of Medicine: A Case of Sidda Medicine
In Asian countries such as India, China, Sri Lanka, which are rich in natural resources, traditional systems
of healing continue to be practiced by a section of the population. Modern medicine, even where programmes
exist to make it available on the grassroots, as for example in India, continues to be mainly reserved for the
urbanized middle classes and do not touch the majority of the rural population. It is interesting to note
that in India, although the classical healing traditions (Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Yoga, Homeopathy) are
being organised by creating separate administrative departments in the government and setting standards for
these medicines, they do seem to only be considered as second hand medicines, which are almost completely
neglected in public health policies.
Many of the modern medicines are derived from plant genetic resources. A conservative estimate mentions that
value of such plant-based medicines could range between $20mn and $40 billion. While a large percentage of
this would have directly accrued to the modern pharmaceutical industry also, it would be worthwhile to look
at how much of this has accrued to the traditional medicinal sector and is actually shared with the community
that may possess important knowledge about such resources. Though the traditional form of medicine is
practiced on a large scale, yet many stakeholders may not be completely aware of and the appreciate
usefulness of such practices. The increasing use of the traditional knowledge based practices and biotech
based applications have resulted in countries resorting to multilateral and bilateral agreements in sharing
the biogenetic resources. The Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) was brought in and has been ratified
by 178 countries basically with the purpose of promoting the sustained use of such resources in order to
benefit every stake holder and particularly benefit those communities and individuals which would possess
knowledge of and use of genetic resources. This knowledge holders traditionally derived knowledge of a use
of a particular resource, which has been passed on to them either orally but may not have been documented
adequately. Hence such rich awareness about genetic resources could be limited to a particular community or
known to many in a community but practically only a few would be putting them in practice. Hence, such
knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles
relevant to biodiversity (traditional knowledge) are legally protected under Article 8(j) CBD. It states
that “Subject to its national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and
practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation
and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and
involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing
of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices”.
In the particular case of traditional knowledge is valuable not only to those who are dependent on it for
their livelihood, but to modern industry as well and particularly to the agro pharmaceutical industry.
The proposed study would focus on the current practices in protecting indigenous knowledge of medicine and the
modus operandi of sharing the benefits arising out of commercializing such knowledge resources either with the
individual or with the community at large. Hence in the process, it becomes relevant to identify the methods
and practices in (a) identifying the source of traditional knowledge which could have been passed on to
generations as a `right’,(b) where it has been identified protection becomes the basic condition (c) and once
identified and protected how effectively are these practices transferred to the organized industry to benefit
the society. The last question becomes very complex and relevant since what does a community expects to get
from protection of their TK and further by commercializing the same. Traditional medicine particularly in
Asia can be distinguished into codified systems of traditional medicine and the non-codified medicinal
knowledge. Hence in such cases, while access to the genetic resources may be permitted through the regulated
bodies, the `associated knowledge’ which rightfully belongs to a community may not be recognized or get its
due credit. Hence, the tentative central questions proposed to be raised in this project are: What are the
existing systems of protecting traditional knowledge as practiced by individuals, community and the system
practiced by the government?
In codified cases, how are the plant resources sustained from over exploitation and biopiracy? what does the
community gets as a reward for protecting/ sharing the knowledge? Are there fixed standards for producing
the traditional medicine on a required scale and how are they regulated.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
Manufacturing Siddha Medicines: Issues in Standardisation and Procurement
Regulations pertaining to the manufacture of Siddha medicines come under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940
and Drugs and Cosmetics rules of 1945. As part of the regulations, as for chemical pharmaceutical units,
Siddha manufacturing units should adhere to the “Good Manufacturing Practices”, which assures users that the
medicines are manufactured in accordance with world standard manufacturing practices. However, sufficiently
widespread, unorganized manufacturing of Siddha medicine takes place, which is difficult to bring under any
regulation. The GMP not only cover manufacturing practices, but also ensure that only standard raw materials
are procured. It emerges from the current procurement practices adopted by two manufacturing groups, TAMPCOL
and IMPCOPS, who also supply health care facilities to the Government of Tamil Nadu, that these agencies
procure raw materials by tender, specifying certain standards. These raw materials come from various places
in India and some items are also imported. Just because the raw materials are provided by different agencies,
adequate attention isnot presently being paid to: a) sustainable aspects of the raw materials, or to b)
benefit sharing practices. It is evident that many of the medicinal plants are becoming extinct and hence,
if the procuring agencies are not adequately sensitized about the sustainability aspects of herbs
particularly, many of them will be added to the extinct list and a number of currently available Siddha
products will also become extinct. Hence, in the institutionalizing of Siddha medicines it is necessary to
pay great attention to the sustainability of resources: this is the need of the moment.
CV
R. Maruthakutti est enseignant à Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli. Il a participé à de nombreux projets dans le domaine du développement de la condition des femmes, la santé publique et les personnes âgées. Il a participé à différents séminaires en Inde et à l'étranger et il est l'auteur de publications dans des journaux nationaux et internationaux.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
Siddha practices in Kongu region, Tamil Nadu
This proposed research on Siddha practices will be carried out in three sub-cultural regions viz. the Erode,
Salem and Palani areas of Tamil Nadu. These regions are very renowned for this medicine due to the presence
of hills which possess a rich diversity of medical plants and which are considered to have welcomed various
cittarkal? considered as the authors of medical manuscripts.
This sociological study will look at the comparison between practitioners who consult patients in the Siddha
ward of government medical hospitals, the siddha doctors of panchayat dispensaries, those in private Siddha
clinics, and in the religiously endowed hospitals (Siddha). The data as it concerns the practitioners will
evaluate: their socio-demographic profile, their education, their perception and the expectations they have
of their medicine, the diagnostic they used and the medicines they distributed, the tariff of consultation;
and as it concerns patients: their socio-demographic profile, the illness provoking the consultation,
previous therapeutic attempts, the perception of Siddha medicine and of the doctor, and the content of the
consultation.
This study will allow for the defining of the therapeutic role played by Siddha medicine in this area and
will offer a field of comparison between it and other studies conducted in different areas of Tamil Nadu.
Its focus will be on ascertaining the choice of the siddha medicine in preference to other practices and
also towards the socio demographic factors which condition the choice.
CV
C.S. Mohanavelu a été enseignant en histoire à Presidency College, Chennai. Il a consacré ses recherches à la perception de la littérature, de la langue et du savoir tamouls dans les Archives de la Mission de Halle. Il est l'auteur du livre “German Tamilology” ainsi que d'articles dans des journaux allemands et indiens.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
A Few German Diary Reports on Siddha medicine in the Halle Mission Archives
Wiph the arrival of the first German named Balthasar Sprenger in south-west India in 1505, Indo-German
interactions are now already 500 years old. But significant German interest for Tamil studies came to be
only from 1706 onwards.
German Lutheran missionaries visited Tamilnadu on 1706, to spread the Gospel. Coming from cold Europe to
the hot tropical Tamilnadu without any knowledge of tropical diseases, they knew nothing about the
corresponding indigenous medical treatment, better known as the siddha vaittiyam. Dozens of German
missionaries, who suffered from tropical diseases for the first time in Tamilnadu, were cured by the native
medical-men – the cittayavaittiar - with tropical herbs. According to a German diary report dated February
20, 1726, the Tamil medical-men knew of as many as 4448 diseases and their corresponding herbal drugs.
Struck by nascent curiosity, mixed with pleasant surprise, the Germans collected hundreds of medical
palm-leaves to know ever so more about Siddha medical system. They sent rare Tamil medical manuscripts
with notes on each disease to Germany “in a remarkable haste by the next available ship”. This kind of
medical interest outshone and overshadowed their very purpose of coming here, which led to a spiritual
paralysis. I will also outline a proposal for a digital archive, in order to make Siddha medical data
stored in German Archives, available to medical researchers.
CV
Kanchana C.V. Natarajan est enseignante à Delhi University. Ses champs d'intérêt sont la philosophie classique indienne, les études sur le genre dans une perspective culturelle et philosophique, la philosophie des cittarkal, sur lesquels elle a publié de nombreux articles dans des journaux nationaux et internationaux. Elle a bénéficié d'une allocation de recherche post-doctorale à the School of Oriental and African Studies, London et à Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London pour son étude sur le corps dans la tradition
Résumé du projet sur la médecine siddha
Configurations of Tradition in Siddha Medicine
Siddha vaidyas today are often grouped with diverse medical practitioners throughout the world under the
rubric of “traditional” doctors. Many vaidyas embrace this designation of traditional, wielding it in ways
that lend authority to their practices and distinguish them from the hegemony of biomedicine. While the
historical study of medical knowledge and practices has greatly advanced over the past two decades,the
nature of authority entailed in calling something traditional, as well as the continuities and fissures
between this contemporary designation and prior ways of specifying medical identity and difference, have
been little studied.
In this project, I will bring into dialogue the premodern and modern self-referential practices of South
Indian vaidyas who trace the origins of their knowledge to the Tamil siddhars. I will examine the ways that
these vaidyas have transformed themselves over the past two hundred years. In demarcating clear divisions
between Tamil, Sanskrit, and Western medicines, vaidyas today consider themselves to occupy a unified
medical space called “siddha medicine” or “Tamil medicine.” However, a look at premodern medical writings
in Tamil indicate that individual lineages took preference over broader considerations of a pan-Tamil
medicine. By comparing these premodern writings to contemporary accounts of siddha medical tradition, I will
map shifts in the self-referential practices of medical practitioners from vaidya to siddha vaidya, to Tamil
vaidya, and to traditional vaidya (parampariya vaittiyar).
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
The Tamil siddha medical tradition: a biographical note on Pokar, the alchemist
My research focuses on Pokar's alleged journey/‘flight’ to China, his encounter with the Chinese master
Kalanki, his apprenticeship, and his consequent conceptualisation of siddha medical theory. As with many
cittarkal, Pokar's life is shrouded in various confused, superficial, and exaggerated accounts found in
myths, folklores, oral, literary, and on websites. My research tries to retrieve the life of Pokar from all
the exaggerated claims made by various siddha experts. A few scholarly studies have identified three Pokar
belonging to three different historical periods.
My paper has taken into account the possibility of three Pokar, and I have reconstructed the life and times
of Pokar III from the text
Pokar 7000.
CV
S.Jega Jothi Pandian est chercheur à la bibliothèque du Council Research Institute for Siddha
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical
perspectives”
A Pathway to Eternal Bliss: Kayakalpam in Siddha Medicine
Kayakalpam is the art of rejuvenation which is highly developed in the siddha system of medicine. A science
of longevity aimed at the attaining of moksa, it deals directly deals with heart, mind and soul theory in
the interests of increasing the quality, and improving the pattern of life.
Among the eighteen cittarkal, Tirumular, Pokar and Konkanar framed the basic principles of kayakalpam.
Regular food habits, breathing practices, meditation and auto urine therapies are some features of
kayakalpam. The variations and similarities among these authors are discussed in this paper.
CV
Stanly Paul S. est étudiant en 4eme année au Government siddha college, Chennai. Son champ d'intérêt concerne l'étude des métaux et leur usage dans les proccédés iatrochimiques.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
Natural bio-ores in siddha
In this era of standardization of traditional system of medicines, standardization of the raw materials
lead the show. As noted in the siddha literature, the elements present in the macrocosm is said to be
present in the microcosm as well. The whole universe is composed of the elements present in the periodic
table and the ones yet to be identified, so as the human body. As these elements were deficient, the
siddhars opted for the natural bio-ores as raw materials. Siddha system of medicine had deviated a lot
from the right path till the beginning of the eighteenth century when the synthetic products and metals
obtained from various chemical processes became to be uses as raw material. But it is awesome responsibility
to eliminate the taints that are sticking to the traditional systems of medicine. The natural bio-ores
are made up by the main constituent elements, trace elements and the micro-organisms.
The main constituent elements present in Tatu materials is around one to four. The methodology of heating
processes (pyrology) noted in siddha literature had been charted in perfect manner by considering the
melting points, other physical chemistry values of these main constituents and the calorific values of
specific fuels used.
CV
T. Rajendran est praticien siddha, specialiste de varmakkalai. Il a reçu une formation en homéopathie mais pratique principalement le siddha dans sa clinique où il reçoit aussi bien des patients internes d'externes. Il a monté plusieurs associations afin de promouvoir le savoir sur le siddha, le varma, le cilampam, et le yoga, d'enseigner ces spécialités à travers des cours, de traiter des patients dans des endroits isolés et de fabriquer des médicaments qu'il a fait patentés
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
Varma point induction experiences with traditional practitioners
I am a post-graduate homoeopathic physician belonging to a traditional varma practitioner's family, and I
have gained much experience from other such practitioners whom I met, with a view to improving my knowledge
of Siddha and varmakkalai. Most of these traditional practitioners are illiterate or minimally literate and
could not understand the basic needs of society or the need for education. They believe themselves to be
the authorities of the practice, but because of this ignorance, they are destroying the value of the
particularly experiential knowledge of our tradition. Even though some traditional practitioners have had
higher education, they have no interest in exposing their knowledge freely and openly.
I wish to narrate an experience of mine: once, my master sent me out to purchase a piece of cloth from a
shop as for a bandage for a patient when, actually, it was to avoid the exposing of his induction or varmam
point stimulation treatment given to an unconscious patient. Incidents of this kind frequently occurred when
I met with practitioners to learn from them.
CV
M. Ramakrishnan est enseignant à Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, India. Son champ de recherche concerne la sociologie de la famille, la sociologie de la santé, les Droits de l'Homme et la justice sociale. Il a participé à plusieurs projets financés par le département du Social Welfare, Tamil Nadu, et par d'autres institutions. Il forme les travailleurs sociaux; Il a participé à de nombreux séminaires en Inde et a publié de nombreux articles.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
Siddha practices in Kongu region, Tamil Nadu
A study has been conducted on five reputed traditional bone setters who belong to three different family
traditions. These indigenous bone setters differ considerably in their experience, methods and techniques
of diagnosis and adaptation to other systems of medicine. The objectives of this study has been to estimate
the achievements of bonesetters and their contributions to the field of traditional medicine; to find out
common as well as the distinct methods of diagnosis adopted by the traditional bone setters; to assess the
safety and efficacy of the treatment provided by them, and lastly to study their attitude towards other
system of medicine with a view to understand the dilution which has taken place with regard to traditional
medicine in general and bone-setting tradition in particular.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“The institutionalisation of therapeutic practices in India. Social and legal perspectives”
FIP 7-8 December 2006
Role of associations of experts in the revitalization of Siddha medicine
Since 1970s, siddha medicine is taught and practised in two governmental colleges in Tamil Nadu. However,
the learning and the treatment of patients are extremely criticized because of their reductive aspects by
the hereditary practitioners (paramparai cittamaruttuvar) s well as by the students coming from these
families. This situation encouraged the hereditary practitioners to form associations and to conduct
trainings on certain specialties of siddha medicine, which are not taught in governmental colleges.
Meetings are organized in order to increase the exchanges on the clinical results, formulations and
manufacturing processes of medicines. While the government seeks to draw aside from the therapeutic field
the therapists who possess no officially sanctioned curriculum, these associations offer them the means to
re-appropriate their medicine. By ensuring a continuous training, delivering diploma, and encouraging the
circulation of knowledge and the homogenization of the medicinal formulations, they act as true
institutions.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
A clash of practices: siddha medicine exportation and foreign laws on drug quality
Little is known about Siddha medicine outside those Asian countries with significant Tamil communities.
Over the last few decades, however, the revitalization of this scholarly medical system originating in
the state of Tamil Nadu has been acting as a push towards promotion on the international markets. The
distribution of this medicine is not without problems as its practitioners make a great deal of use of
metals and of mineral compounds whose tolerance thresholds in the finished product are drastic in some
cases, due to toxicity. Warnings of the high levels of metal detected in Canada and England in various
drugs belonging to traditional Indian medicines have prompted the health ministries of these countries
to strengthen their quality control policies by compelling the specialised manufacturers to apply
“Good Manufacturing Practices” and to list the ingredients of each formulation.
Some practitioners, to avoid the risks linked with toxicity, have chosen to give up using metals and
other dangerous products in their formulations. Other practitioners believe, however, that these elements
are the key to the efficacy and the singularity of Siddha, and therefore do not alter their formulations.
How is the export of Siddha medicine and its drugs to be carried on in this situation? In answer to that
question a study must, first of all, be carried out, of the regulations pertaining to the importing of
medicinal products as might contain residual doses of toxic elements, and the extent to which the export
of these products is feasible thereby estimated. I shall next look at the methods developed by the makers
of Siddha medicaments (at different production levels) to distribute their products outside India.
CV
G. Gnana Sekari a obtenu sur PhD à l'Université de Madras, au département des sciences de l'enseignement. Elle travaille comme bibliothécaire au Council Research Institute for Siddha, Chennai.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
An effective tool in organising digital knowledge on siddha medicine
An expert system in information technology serves as a potential tool in the management of digital asset.
An expert system is a knowledge-based system which facilitates organization of knowledge in such a manner
as to fill the gap or compensate for the absence of an expert in a particular field.
Siddha system is an impressive and ancient Indian medical system which, historically, was not popularised
due to the secrecy maintained by the cittarkal. The expert knowledge in this field is found in the form of
Tamil poems and was not properly organized. This information should be organised in digital format so that
it is easily accessible to, and understandable by, a layman.
This paper aims to describe the organization and digitization of information about siddha medicine in the
form of expert system with hypertext facility. This study mainly explains, how these two modern information
technologies can be used to manage the digital asset.
CV
J. Soundrapandi est doctorant en botanique au Christian College, Tambaram.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
Systematization and identification of botanical materia medica of siddha medicine: Sources,
methods and implications
Siddha medicine uses an extensive pharmacopoeia that includes botanical, animal, mineral and metallic
preparations, and possesses a vast vernacular pharmacopoeial literature made up of kunapatam, nikantu,
malai vakatam and karpa suttiram. These writings, preserved in codified poems and oral transmission,
are an accumulation of knowledge about the pharmacology and ecology of herbal, animal and mineral
medicines. Much of siddha medical writing awaits systematic study, de-coding and standardization, hence,
this presentation will attempt simply to address the botanical aspects of this medical tradition.
I propose to elucidate and systematically review the botanical materials contained within the materia
medica of siddha texts to determine their identification and use. Identification of medicinal materials,
especially plants, provides the basis for phytochemical and pharmacological characterization.
Ethno-botanical knowledge of cittavaittiyar and the ethno-pharmacological survey of fresh plants, as well
as raw material marketing in the State, were utilized to validate, authenticate and identify the botanical
materia medica. Attempt is made in this study to harmonize nomenclature and place classification of siddha
medicine with that of the binomial naming system and botanical systems of plant classification. I intend
to demonstrate the taxonomic richness of siddha’s botanical materia medica. By using the botanical data,
I also propose to examine the extent of dependence of siddha on local ecosystems for its pharmacopoeia,
and its implications for resource conservation.
CV
V. Sujatha est enseignante à Jawaharlal Nehru University, Deldi. Sa recherche s'intéresse à la sociologie du développement de la santé et aux systèmes indigènes de connaissances en Inde. Elle est l'auteur du livre “Health by the people. Sociology of medical lore” ainsi que de quelques articles.
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
Body and self: non dualism in siddha medicine
While the social, political and economic aspects of systems of medicine such as siddha and ayurveda have
received research attention from social scientists, the cognitive and conceptual dimensions of the medical
knowledge have not been examined as much. This paper seeks to present the underlying view of the body in
Siddha medical literature and show how this is undergoing transformation.
The idea behind this paper is to delineate, if selectively, the substantive concerns of siddha medicine and
to show that it involves a distinct view of the body and its environment and, for the knower, entails a
definite set of methodologies. The siddha view presents a conception of the body and nature that includes
its gross (material) and subtle (non material) aspects, so that the body and mind are not treated
as dual entities.Such an enquiry into the cognitive framework of systems of medicine is relevant to the
emergence of alternative conceptions of science in a unipolar world. It also interrogates biomedicine’s
position as the sole arbiter of the reality of the body, and considers epistemologies that offer a different
conception of knowledge and knower.
The paper will conclude a brief section on the changes that characterize medical conceptions
of siddha system.
CV
G. Veluchamy a été Drecteur du Council Research Institute for Siddha, Chennai, jusqu'à son départ en retraite à la fin 2007
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Siddha Medicine: historical, Social and Medical perspectives”
Social use of materia medica in siddha system of medicine
Medicine as everyone knows is not merely a science but an art as well. The siddha system of medicine is
one of the oldest in India. The term ‘siddha’ means achievement and the cittarkal were saintly figures who
have contributed to the development of this medical system.
According to the cittarkal, the human body (microcosm) is a replica of the universe (macrocosm), and so are
foods or drugs irrespective of their origin. The cittarkal, through enumeration, implied that the herbs are
used as ‘special foods’, serving to eliminate excesses and to strengthen deficiencies. They have a powerful
nutritive impact on a weakened body and their primary action is to stimulate particular organic functions,
thereby acting more effectively than normal food.
This paper elucidates the social uses of materia medica, and throws light on their mass production and the
hurdles that hamper the growth and development of the popularization of the iddha system of medicine.
CV
Richard S. Weiss est enseignant au département South Asian Religions, à l'université de Victoria University, at Wellington, New Zealand. Ses aires de recherche concernent les religions de l'Asie du sud, le mysticisme et la dévotion en Asie du sud, les tradition de soin dans une perspective comparative Afrique-Inde. Il est l'auteur de quelques publications et d'un ouvrage sous presse.
Résumé du projet sur la médecine siddha
Configuration of tradition in Siddha medicine
Cittavaittiyar today are often grouped with diverse medical practitioners throughout the world under the
rubric of “traditional” doctors. Many vaittiyar embrace this designation of traditional, wielding it in
ways that lend authority to their practices and distinguish them from the hegemony of biomedicine. While
the historical study of medical knowledge and practices has greatly advanced over the past two decades,
the nature of authority entailed in calling something traditional, as well as the continuities and
fissures between this contemporary designation and prior ways of specifying medical identity and
difference, have been little studied.
In this project, I will bring into dialogue the pre-modern and modern self-referential practices of South
Indian vaittiyar who trace the origins of their knowledge to the Tamil cittar. I will examine the ways
that these vaittiyar have transformed themselves over the past two hundred years. In demarcating clear
divisions between Tamil, Sanskrit, and Western medicines, vaittiyar today consider themselves to occupy
a unified medical space called “siddha medicine” or “Tamil medicine.” However, a look at pre-modern
medical writings in Tamil indicate that individual lineages took preference over broader considerations
of a pan-Tamil medicine. By comparing these premodern writings to contemporary accounts of siddha
medical tradition, I will map shifts in the self-referential practices of medical practitioners from
vaidya to cittavaittiya, to Tamil vaittiyar, and to traditional vaittiyar (parampariya vaittiyar).
Résumé de la communication dans l'atelier
“Faults and Flaws: Therapeutic practices against the norm in South Asia”, FIP 7-9 March 2008
Charlatans, traitors, and renegades in the critique of secrecy in siddha medicine
While secrecy has been a central feature in the transmission of siddha medical knowledge for centuries, the morality of secrecy in
South India has dramatically changed since the beginning of the twentieth century. In Tamil-speaking South
India and in South Asia more generally, secrecy as a mode of disseminating knowledge has undergone a radical
change in value, from its consideration as a moral duty that keeps powerful knowledge in the hands of the
good, to its regard as a selfish act that has led to the disintegration of a unified Tamil community. This
paper will examine these shifting views of secrecy and the elements of this critique, which was forwarded
both by colonial doctors and also by siddha vaidyas themselves. I will further suggest that the function
of secrecy as a strategy for garnering prestige is now served by another form of concealed knowledge, that
is, Tamil medical knowledge that has been lost in the ravages of time.