The Siddha system of medicine owes its origin to the Dravidian culture which is of the Pre-vedic period. An examination of the ancient literature would reveal that the vedic Aryans owed allegiance to the cult of Shiva and the worship of the phallus (linga) which was later on absorbed by, and incorporated into the Vedic culture.
The Shiv Cult is associated with its medical counterpart, the Siddha system of medicine, which is mainly therapeutic. Mercury, sulphur, iron, copper, gold, bituman, white, yellow and red arsenic and other materials as well as vegatable poisons are extensively used in the pharmacopocia of the Siddha tradition.
The Siddha system of medicine is prevalent in the Sourthen States of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore, where the Dravidian civilization was document.
In the North of India, the Siddhar-Kalpa system (Siddha means one who has attained immortality. Kalpa means panacea) is known as Tantric Science. Siddha Science considers nature and man as essentially one. One who knows the anatomy of nature and its five elements knows well the anatomy of men. Nature is the foremost physician.
The Tamils who are inhabiting the Southern peninsula of the sub- continent of India have an impressive and venerable past, as ancient as that of perhaps the Egyptians.
They undertook a systematic study of nature and its elements and from what they were able to grasp, they had developed a highly systematised medicine which is now known as Siddha system. It is well founded on the basic principles of nature and its elements offer a careful and thorough study of the human system.
The Siddhars : The ancient Tamils in their quest for knowledge for longevity developed two ways by which man can achieve mastery over nature. One is the Yogic way and the other is through medicines The persons who dedicated themselves to this task were themselves great yogis known as Siddhars. Hence the system of medicine propounded by them came ot be known as Siddhars system of Medicine. This system can be traced to the prevedic period.
Siddhar, a Tamil word that is derived from its root `chit' means perfection in life or heavenly bliss. It generally refers to eight kinds of supernatural powers attainable to man.
The persons who had attained such miraculous powers attainable to man. The persons who had attained such miraculous powers in life are known as Siddhars. They are men born with great talents who lived thousands of years ago in Tamil country, who by their devotion and search for truth, avhieved perfection in their life time.
Ancient Siddha Medical Works :
The earliest mention the use of medicinal plants is to be found in Thirumular Thirumantiram-Ennayiram, Tholkappiam and the ancient Tamil works of Sangarm Literature which are believed to have been written thousands of years before the Christian era.
There are now more than 500 works in Tamil dealing with various subjects such as science of life, nature of universe, astronomical data, cosmic dance, atomic theory, space travel, alchemy, `Kaya Kalpa' medicine, etc.
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Hi There: Sir, your article is very interesting. However, it's rather sad that today quite a few "Siddha Doctors" are simple diploma holders who have a lot of scope for malpractise. I myself have know a few like this who add steroids into their herbal decoction and sell them to unsuspecting people - eventually giving this system of medicine a bad name. There are also people who have done the traditional 4 year course and set up a clinic.It's a lovely system of medicine and I have seen many people benifiting from the same.