HISTORY OF SIDDHAVAIDYAM

Ever since the dawn of civilization man has been striving to unravel the mysteries of nature and to understand the structure and purpose of his being.

The Tamils who inhabit the southern peninsula of the sub-continent of India have a hoary 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 systematized medicine, which is now known as "Siddha System".

The Siddha medicine is well founded on the basic principles of nature and its elements after a careful and thorough study of the human system. The ancients of Tamil Nadu had understood the purpose of life introspection and much their knowledge and discovery of truth is shrouded philosophical works.

A study of this ancient system medicine therefore will be complete without a study of the aspects of their culture d-civilization and their thought forces. A systematized study of such comprehensiveness has unfortunately not been undertaken hitherto.

The ancient Tamils in their quest for knowledge for longevity had developed two ways by which man can achieve mastery over nature; the one is the yogic way and the other 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 to be known as "Siddha System of Medicine". It can be traced to the pre Vedic period.

SIDDHARS

Siddhar is a Tamil word that is derived from its root ‘chit’, which means heavenly bliss or one who has attained. It basically refers of the eight kinds of supernatural powers attainable by man. Those persons who attained such miraculous powers in life are known as Siddhars. They are men within Tamil inhabited area. They searched for truth and achieved perfection (Kaya siddhi) in their lifetime. There were 18 important Siddhars in the olden days of whom Agastya Siddha is said to be the greatest. Some of his works are still standard in medicine and widely used by Tamil medical practitioners.

Mount Podhikam, which is today known as Agasthyakoodam, south of Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala in India is believed to be the abode of sage Agastya. Mount Podhikam is also held in high esteem in Buddhist literature and considered to be the earthly abode of Avalohideshwara, a Buddhist deity worshipped by Buddha. The Potala in Tibet is believed to be the replica of Mount Podhikam.