A medicine in loss of identity

Brigitte Gille Sébastia (1, 2, 3)

1 LISST - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités, Sociétés, Territoires
2 IFP - Institut Français de Pondichéry
3 CEIAS - Centre d'Études de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud

This short article analyses the changes that affect the practice of sddha medicine, notably in viewpoint of its remedies that avoid the use of metals and metallic salts. If siddha practitioners justify this avoidance for the sake of toxicity related to these ingredients, others denounce this attitude as the evidence of an impoverishment of the siddha knowledge.

Mots clés: India; Tamil Nadu; traditional siddha knowledge; preparation od medicines; heavy metals; institutionalisation

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Brigitte Gille Sébastia. A medicine in loss of identity. 2013, pp.IIAS The Newsletter n°65. ⟨hal-01423608⟩