Tradition · medical & alchemical tradition
Siddha medicine
Also known as Siddha vaidya, Siddha system, Tamil Siddha medicine
A Tamil medical tradition built on mineral and metallic preparations as much as herbs, attributed to eighteen Siddhars and transmitted in Tamil verse rather than Sanskrit. Its distinctive method is the detoxification and compounding of poisons and metals into muppu and chunnam preparations — medicine made from what would otherwise kill.
- Function
- Science & medicine
- Tradition
- Tamil Siddha corpus; Bhōgar tradition
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Worth knowing
Diagnosis in the classical texts turns on the eight examinations, of which reading the pulse at the wrist in three positions is the most demanding. The tradition's claim to compound poisons safely is what underlies the navapāshāna image at Pālani.
Connections (5)
- Medical tradition atPālani
Pālani's image is held to be navapāshāna, nine poisonous minerals compounded into a single medicinal stone by the Siddhar Bhōgar — exactly the claim Siddha medicine makes for itself, that metals and poisons can be detoxified into remedies. The panchāmirtam poured over it is taken home as medicine, which is why the temple runs a dispensary.
- Teaching lineageCharaka
Ayurveda and Siddha are the two great Indian medical systems and they divide on materials: Ayurveda works mainly from plants and is transmitted in Sanskrit, while Tamil Siddha works heavily with minerals and metals, claims to detoxify poisons into medicines, and is transmitted in Tamil verse. The Pālani image's navapāshāna claim belongs to the second tradition and would make no sense in the first.
- Founder ofAgastya
Agastya is traditionally named the first of the eighteen Siddhars and the founder of Siddha medicine.
- Contributor toTirumūlar
Tirumūlar's Tirumantiram contains early formulations of Siddha medical practice.
- Institutionalised atNational Institute of Siddha, Chennai
The National Institute of Siddha, Chennai, is the apex teaching and research centre for Siddha medicine.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Siddha medicine”. Sangeet Natak Akademi and Ministry of Textiles documentation, and the standard field studies.
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