Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Mad. Vol. XXIII pp.113 to 123

FESTIVALS AND MEDICAL RELEVANCE(WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MEDIEVAL ANDHRA SOCIETY)

P. HYMAVATHI*

ABSTRACT

The physicians of indigenous medical science believed that the climatic

changes are one of the causes for diseases. They observed that severity of a

disease depends on the movements of the planets. Thus, they prescribed

ritucharya as a remedy to their evil influence and also, made the people to

follow some of the important regulations for the maintenance of health by

incorporating them into the religious rituals by instituting some new festivalsand customs like Vinayakachaturthi, Ugadi and Dasara etc .. in course of time.

The primary data regarding the subject can be found available in the

contemporary literary works. medical texts, travellers accounts. inscriptionsand the temple monuments.

The indigenous medical sciencehad an indispensable relation withastronomy during the ancient andmedieval days. The physiciansbelieved that, seasons of the year havealso got an effect on the tridhatus.The climatic characteristics of heatand cold of various seasons wereconsidered as one of the causes fordiseases. They observed that. theseverity of a disease depends on themovements of the planets and thuspescribed herbs or the diet to be

taken by the patient as a remedy totheir evil influence. Hence the dietetichabits changed in accordance withthe change of seasons. This modi-fication in the dietetic regulationswhich undergoes according to thechange of seasons was called asrtucarva The physicians have dividedthe year into six seasons and prescri-bed the dietetic regulations to befollowed in accordance with thechanges in dhatus (vat a, pitta andk apha ) .

* Lecturer. A.S,M. College for Women, Warangal-2 (India),

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The indigenous medical scholarsput forth the purpose of Ayurveda asthe science for protection of thehealth of the hale and the alleviationof the ailing. 1 To maintain the healthof the body and mind, one wasexpected to perform his duties properlyand within the appropriate timeprescribed in the sastras. The learnedpeople and the ruling class followedtoe scriptures with regard to themaintenance of the regimen of life.But it was very difficult to make thecommon people maintain all these,due to various reasons. Especially,illiteracy and incessant hard work forlivelihood did not allow them to thinkbeyond the traditional customs andbeliefs prevailed around them. But themedical scholars did not leave themto their fate. They made the peopleto follow some of the importantregulations for the maintenance ofhealth by incorporating them into thereligious rituals, by instituting somenew festivals and customs in courseof time In this context, let us observesorne of the iestivals and their medicalrelevance. The primary data regardingthe subject can be found available inthe contemporary literary works,medical texts, travellers accounts,inscriptions and temple monuments,

A significant feature of the reli-gi.ous li.fe of the people in India is

Bufl. Ind. tnst . Hist, Med. Vol. XXfioI

the celebration of the festivals indifferent seasons of the year, Thecelebration of the festiva.s aims atachieving socio-religious harmonyamong the people and to cultivate adisciplinary way of life conducive tothe maintenance of good mental andphysical health. Among such festivalsVinavaka caviti or caturtbi must bementioned in the forefront.

According to the pauranic story,this festival is celebrated in comme-moration with the coronation of LordVinavaka as the Commander-In- chiefof the Divine Army. The story whichmust be read or heard on the daytells us how he got back his life afterfixation of an elephant's head on hisneck immediately after he wasbeheaded. It is said that he was curedwith many kinds of herbs. If weobserve the method of worshipkeenly, we can find that it bears agreater medico-religious importance.It is celebrated on the fourth day ofthe bright fortnight of the monthBhadrap ada every year, Lord Vinavak ais worshipped on this day, to beblessed with good health and success.People worship him with 21 kinds ofherbal leaves and many kinds offlowers. The leaves of the followingplants are used in the worship:

Festivals and Medical Relevance-Hymavathi

MiichipattriB "hatiBilvaDurvaDatturaBadanAparnarqaTulasiCutaKaraviraVisnukran taDiirlimDevadaruMaruvakaSinduvar aJatiGandakiSam!Asv atth aArjunaArka

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(Artemisia absinthium, Linn)(Solanum indicum Linn)(Aegle marmelos Corr.)(Cynodon dectyl on Linn. Pers.](Datura alba Nees)(Zizyphus jujuba Mill. & Lamk.)(Achyranthes aspera Linn.)(Ocimum sanctum Linn)(Mangifera indies Linn.)(Nerium indicum Mill.)(Evolvulus alsinoides Wall. & t.inri.](Punica granatum Linn.)(Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud.)(Origanum majorana Linn.)(Vitex negundo Linn.)(Jasminum grandiflorum Bailey.)(Pandanus odoratissimus Wi//d.)(Mimosa pudica l.inn.}(Ficus religiosa Li nn}(TerminaJia arjuna W. & A)(Calotropis gigantea (Linn.) R.Br.ex Ait.)

Thus every leaf prescribed forworshiping the deity on each of hisdifferent names is a medicinal oneesteemed by the medical scientistsin their prescriptions against manyhealth disorders. The literary works ofmedieval Andhradesa refer to manyhome remedies of the common peopleFor petty disorders such as cold,cough. body pains etc .. pe t ple didnot go to the physician They dependupon elderly women at home whowere experts in identifying differentdrug-substances and were great hea-lers in case of many diseases whichoccur in common in the family Everymember in the family was expectedto be in good touch with variouskinds of plants and trees of medicinalvalue and must be able to collect thesame The festival of Vinavak a cavitioffered an oppor tu nitv to qain suchknowledge. On that day. the elderly

people used to take their children tothe fields after taking bath early inthe morning. fhey roam about in thefields and in the vicinity of the villageto collect the twenty one varieties ofleaves, identifying them by name. Atthe time of worship, they offer eachkind of leaf by name according to therecited name of Lord Vinavaka, whichindicates the nature and efficacy ofthe leaf Likewise the 21 kinds ofleaves would be offered on thereciting of the 21 names of the deityWithout performing this puja(worship). it is propagated by thereligious preceptors that one shouldnot look at the Moon on that night.

By this we understand the followingthings: this festival is prescribedto be celebrated in the rainy seasonbecause all the plants grow healthilywith leaves. flowers, and tender

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fruits during this month. Every plantcan be observed with all its contentsand products such as roots, bark,gum, stem, leaves, flowers, tenderfruits etc. As the elderly people traintheir children in identifying andoffering 21 kinds of leaves and diffe-rent flowers at the time of worshipevery year, the children could be ableto identify them easily by the timethey become ten or twelve years old.

Th condition that one should notlook at the Moon on that night with-out performing the pllja. indicates thefact that, one should not visit apharmacist or a physician withoutknowing the basic knowledge aboutthe herbs. The literary works refer tothe Moon, as the Lord of herbs andmedicines.:' Some home remedieswere propagated among the commonpeople through folk-songs. In oneof such songs, we find a reference toa heating technique. It runs thus:"Oh Moon - Tell me the remedy forthe relief in the broken leg of a mis-chievous lad!" The answer followsin the same verse thus: "Grind theneem leaves, turmeric and garlicalong with 101 drops of oil into pasteand apply it on the leg twice a day."In this context, we can understandthe reason for the prohibition oflooking at the Moon. People believedthat Lord Vinavaka should be worshi-pped for the success in any of theirendeavours. That is why. they hadchosen this day as the day of initi at io nto impart practical training to theirchildren.

Bufl. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol· XX/II

'Uga.di', the first festival in theAndhradesa was celebrated onthe occasion of the commencing ofthe new year i e. on the very first dayof the month Caitra (March 15-April 15). Even today, every house-wife prepares a prasada popularlyknown as Ugadipacchadi. The ingre-dients are neem flowers, the juice oftamarind mixed with jaggery, smallpieces of mango and sugarcane andpoppy seeds. Since all these ingre-dients have medicinal value. thepreparation seems to be a medicineThe humour kapha, which accumu-mutates duririq the cold season isprovoked in Vasantha rtu. That iswhy, the above mentioned prasadacr preparation is prescribed by theintellectual class to be taken duringthe Vasanta rtu to maintain the equi-lIibrium of the tridhatus.

In Var!Oartu (rainy season), thedigestive system is weakened; there-fore, one was advised to keep to acertain diet, should avoid sleeping byday arid co habitation, should drinkmedicinal liquor in small doses withhoney. and should take massages andoil baths. We find that the peopleobserved all these regulations in theirdaily life. They observed this seasonas the season of festivals. The firstmonth in the rtu i.e.. \~arlha, prohibitsthe co-habitation of the newly marriedcouple. On every Tuesday and Fridayof the month Sravana all the coupleswere prohibited from co-habitation,on the pretext of the festive days.

Festivals and Medical Relevance---Hymavathi

Sleeping by day during this monthwas believed as just inviting theGoddess of misfortune, medicinallyit aggravates vata. which may causediseases. Vayu naturally gets aggra-vated during the cold arid rainyseasons. Then the germs and microbesalso crop up in the nature and waitupon to attack the people. That iswhy, the worship of Tulas i (HolyBasil), the cleaning of the houseswith cow-dung and decorating thehouses with muggu arid lime powder,the special baths, etc. were prescribed.Further. it is also interesting to notethat the annual jataras (festive cele-brations) to the local deities mostlytake place during the month ~ravalla(August-September) to keep awayfrom the epidemics. People smearthe houses and the front yards withcow-dung or buffalo dung, decoratethe houses with neem leaves, put thebenzoin on the fire, and perform piijato Tulasi during these days. Theyprepare the prasada with cow-milkand offer it along with soaked bengalgram with sprouts emerging out.

'Dasara' is one of the importantfestivals which occurs in the monthof Aswavu]a. It seems to be thefestival of Mother Goddess whichwas taken fro" the popular cultureby the later pauranic writers into theirfold and propagated some storiesabout her achievements. These storiesreveal the achievements of the MotherGoddess against the demons whocaused troubles to women. A feature

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of the folklore culture can be seen inthe custom of wcrshipinq the Mimosasuma tree after taking procession tothe outskirts of the village (sirnollan-ghana) on the Vijaya Dasarni day.The medieval medical scholars explai-ned the medicinal value of Mimosasuma tree i.e. its leaves, trunk, bark,and root. Thus we observe that asin the festivity of Vinayaka caviti,some plants and flowers were deifiedand worshipped dur inq Dasara festivalalso. In the cult of worshipping thevillage deities also people used toperform this custom with (J slightdifference.

In the Telangana region of.vndhr adesa, only the women folkparticipate in the worship of the deity.She is worshipped every evening fromthe first day of the bright fortnightof month Aswavuja till Navarni, theninth day of the month. About thefestival, Nuniz writes thus: "Somesay that they do this in honour of thenine months during which our ladybore her son in the womb. us Thus,it is clear that the custom is continuedin the society from the very ancientdays. It is a custom celebrated outof regard towards the Mother Goddesswho is the embodiment of woman-hood As the pregnant woman iscarefully looked after and every monthis celebrated on some pretext or rheother, these nine days are celebratedas symbolic of the nine months ofpregnancy. During the days she isworshipped in the form of the heap

iTS

of the flowers of Cassia obovata.These flowers are highly esteemed bythe medical scholars as capable ofkeeping the three dhatus of thehuman body in balance and itsroots are capable of curing all thediseases if taken in combination ofother drug substances. As in the cultof the worship of the village Goddess,slaughter of animals was performedat the end of the Navaratri festival,i.e. on 'Dasara'. Men also used tojoin on that day and worship theMimosa suma tree at the outskirts ofthe village. Though the practice ofanimal sacrifice disappeared, theother part of the celebration remainedthe same till today.

'Dipavali' is an important festivalcelebrated on the twenty first daycounting from Dasara i.e. on the lastday of the month of Aswavu] a Inthe Hindu house holds the first twentyone days of the new born child wereobserved very carefully as they werebelieved to be prone to the attackof the evil elements. People believedthat the labour room should be endo-wed with ever-burning fire in whichmedicinal substances were put andwith a lamp of mustard oil. Car akaalso prescribed such practices toprevent the evil elements to enterinto the room. The people believedthat if the child completed the twentyone days without any health hazard,there would not be any possibility ofthe attack of life-threatening evileLements (bhutas ). The successful

Bull. Ind. tnst . Hist, Med, Vol. XXII!

completion of these days are celebra-ted on a grand scale. The celebrationof Dipavaf is such an occasion.

It is an ancient prescription bythe physicians which became a customto lit the lights with mustard oil toavoid the influence of the virus,which they called as the influence ofthe evil-e lernents.P But gradually.people started using the sesame oilin place of mustard oil. Peitro deliaValle writes", "This night, as infinitenumber of Torches and Candles werelighted, not only in all the templesbut also in all the streets, houses.and shops. After lighting the lights,the people "begin to throw up manyrockets, and many different sorts offires", which were made with saltpetre (nitrate of potash), sulphur andsulphate of copper, etc. which help indriving away the evil insects. Accor-ding to puran as. this festival is cele-brated as an occasion of the celebra-tion of the Goddess's success over arftk:;asa.

The month of Miirga,:;in (Dec. 15-Jan. 15) was considered as aninauspicious mcnth to take up anyausplcious function in the Hinduhouseholds. Abbe Dubois savs", "Thefeast of Pongal is a season of rejoi-cing for two special reasons. Thefirst is, that the month of M5.gha (notMagha but Margasira in which thefestival is celebrated) or December,in which every day is unlucky, isabout to expire; and the other, that it

Festivals and Medical Relevance-Hymavathi

is to be succeeded by a month, eachday of which is fortunate. He furthersays, "For the purpose of avertingthe evil effects of this baleful monthof Magha, about four O'clock in themorning, a sort of s anvasi s go fromdoor to door of every house, be atiriqon a plate of iron or copper, whichproduces a piercing sound. All whosleep. being thus roused are counse-lled to take wise precautions andguard against the evil presages of themonth, by expiratory offerings, andsacrifices to Siva, who presides overit." He described how the womenof the house decorate the front yardsby smearing cow-dung and mugguluwhich were designed with limepowder. Putting the balls made ofcow-dung on the muggulu is still aspecial feature of this festival. Aspreviously referred to. lime and cowdung were extensively used by them,almost every day, to keep the surro-undings clean and to prevent theentry of the evil elements which theycalled as grahas and spirits Thefestival is celebrated for three daysi.e. 8hogi, Sankranti or Surv a Pongaland Kanuma The Bhogi celebrationsstart with putting fire in front of thehouse. "The second day is calledSurva Pongal or Pongal of the Surv a(Sun) and is set apart in the honourof that luminary" who is regarded asthe "Health-Promising God", Thethird day known as Kanuma is thefestival of the cattle. "In a greatvessel filled with water, they putsome saffron, the seeds of pratti and

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leaves of the tree vepa. After beingwell mixed, they go round all thecows and oxen belonging to the housesever a I ti rne s spri nk ling them withthe water, as they turn to the fourcardinal [Joints ..... men only performthis ceremony, the women stayingaway." Thus we find that the peopleused neern. turmeric and the cottonseeds in the case of cattle also so asto save them from being caught byany disease. They decorated thecattle by applying the paste ofturmeric powder on their horns andsounding bells; flowers, etc. aroundtheir necks which were aimed at theprotection of the cattle from themalignant qrahas, evil spirits andpoisonous creatures like snakes.

According to Carak a." during thismonth (Dec. 15- Jan. 15). coldincreases the diqe stive fire whichenables one to digest heavy and richfood. One is advised to take recipesof milk, sweets. fats, oils, new riceand hot water. If we observe thecelebration of festival, we understandthat all these are observed. It is acompulsory practice at every home toprepare a sweet milky dish with newrice called as pongali and a sweetknown as ariselu prepared of riceflour. jaggery and ghee Taking oilbath with nalugu (application of apaste made with green gram flour allover the body after the massage ofoil) was compulsory to both menand women on the very first day(Bhogi) of this three day festival.

1'20

It seems that there was a fearamong the people about the evil'influence of the viral and bacterialinfections of which they believed asthe wrath of the malignant qrahas.That is why, they took many preventive steps throughout the month. Thesteps taken are: putting fire burningearly in the morning., sprrnlding watermixed with cow-dung, pouring lime-stone powder i.n the artistic form asmuggulu around the house, arranqinqsmall halls of cow-dung along withturmeric and saffron powders inbetween the muggulu, by taking bath;n the water mixed with the leaves ofbeans plant which works excellentlyon the minor skin problems. The sapof beans-leaves removes black spotswhich appear on the cheeks and noseduring this season. likewise, peoplebelieve that it brings back the normalglory to the skin after the cotd seasonduring which the skin becomes dryand loses its lusture. Till today it isa compulsory custom in the villaqesto take bath with the leaves of beansplant and fast till the Moon appears,on the Rathasaptami day which fallsin this rru.

A cumpulsory practice duringevery religious festival or any ritualis to take up hygienic steps in theform of purification. Among suchpurificatory steps, the smearing of thefloor with the cow-dung was themost important one. Its importancewas realised by the foreign tr avel'tersalso. Peitro delia Valle observed the

Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Voi. XX""

habit and gave a graphic descriptionof it. He says," "I took it for asuperstitious rite of religion - indeedthis is a pretty curiousity and I intendto cause trial to be made of it ,n Italy,and rather because they say forcertain that the house whose pave-ments are thus sterocated, are goodagainst the plague, which is nodespicable advantage - and in brief;'it is certain that it is no superstitiouscustom, but only for neatness andornament; therefore, 'it is no wonderthat the gentiles use it often andperhaps every day, in places wherethey eat, which above all the rest areto be very neat." Linschoten alsoobserves this custom thus: "Theirhouses are commonly strewed withcow-dung, which (they say) killethFleas."lo

Another custom retating to Hindufestivals and having medical impor-tance is the observation of fasts oncertain days. ln Ayurveda, fasting isadvised as a therapeutic measure.As the rtuc arva stresses on light foodduring gri~ma, pravrt, and varsaseasons for the south Indians, certaindays were chosen to observe fastduring these seasons. For example,in .:\ndhradesa the Sravaua (Aug. 15-Sep 15) and Kartika (Nov. 15--Dec. 15) months were chosen toobserve frequent fasts when purgatives:were prohibited I I Peitro delia Valledescribed the celebration on everyMondav, New and Full moon daysduring the Kartik a month in Kar n atak a

Festivals and Medical Retev ence-s-Hy mev ethi

area. It was a common practice in.vndhra region also. Even today, wefind these celebrations in practice.People used to observe fast duringthe day and dine in the evening onseeing the Moon.

The threshold of every house wasdeified and was worshipped everyday or atleast on Tuesdays andFridays. They were washed cleanly,smeared with turmeric paste anddecorated with saffron here and thereand flowers at the corners. The topportion of the doorway is decoratedwith wreaths of mango leaves on thefestive and auspicious occasions andwith the neem and sacred basil leaves

727

on the special occasions, especiallywhen the lady of the house was onthe child bed and when an epidemicspreads in the village. Still the thres-hold is regarded as an embodimentof Goddess Laxmi and people believethat one should not touch it withfoot. The front yard leading to thethreshold also was smeared withcow-dung.

Thus we find how almost all theinstructions of the medical scholarswith regard to the maintenance ofthe good health crept into the commonpractices of the people in variousseasonal religious celebrations andfestivals.

122 Bull. indo lnst . Hist. Med. Vol. XXIii

REFERENCES

1. Charakasamhita, 1- 30,31.

2. Amuktamalyada, II - 63.

3. Saletore, B.A., "Social and Political Life Vijayanagar Ernpire",Vol. II, B.C. Paul & Company, Madras, 1934, p. 383.

4. Ibid, p. 385.

5. Jaggi, O.P. "History of Science and Technology, Folk Medicine",Atmaram & Sons, Delhi, 1977, p. xviii.

6. Saletore, op. cit., p. 401.

7. Abbe J.A. Dubois "People of India and of Their Institutions-Religious and Civil", Asian Educational Services, New Delhi,1989, pp. 284-85.

8. Kutumbaiah, P. "Ancient Indian Medicine", Orient Longman,New Delhi, 1962, p. 132.

9 Saletore, op. cit., p 296

10. Purchas, "Pilgrims", X Glasgow, 1905-07, p, 248.

11. Kutumbaiah, P. op.cit., p. 133.

Festivals and Medicel Relevance-Hymavathi 123

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