Interactions with the traditional healers of Dashapal and Mudpar villages of Chhattisgarh, India

Research Note - Pankaj Oudhia
© 2001,2002,2003 Pankaj Oudhia - All Rights Reserved

As the rainy season starts in Chhattisgarh, the incidences of snake bite increase at very high rate. Every year hundreds of natives get affected with this problem. In urban areas, the natives take the advantage of modern medicinal sciences but in remote areas, the natives are dependent on the traditional healers for their treatment. Facing this problem in every rainy season since generations, the traditional healer have developed many promising treatments by using common herbs and herbal formulations to treat this problem. This is good sign that the research of these healers is still in progress and every year they try new herbs on their patients. You will be surprised to know that the roots of ornamental plant Rajnigandha (Tuberose) can be used successfully in treatment of snake bite.

	Table 1. Medicinal weed flora of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) fields in Chhattisgarh (India) region
	Scientific name	Local name	English name	Family	Remarks
	1	2	3	4	5
	Kharib weeds
1	Albutilon	Raksi	Velvetleaf	Malvaceae	M, m
	indicum*
2	Achyranthes	Latkana	Prickly	Amaranthaceae	M, m
	aspera*		chafflower
3	Ageratum	Gandhila	Bill goat	Compositae	M
	conyzoides		weed
4	Aeschynomene	Soli	Northern	Leguminoaseae	M
	americana		joint vetch
5	Boerhavia	Punernava	Spiderling	Nyctaginaceae	M
	diffusa*
6	Borreria	Safed		Rubiaceae	M
	hispida	phooli
7	Caesulia	Balonda		Compositae	M, m
	axillaris
8	Celosia	Siliyari	Cock's comb	Amaranthaceae	M, m
	argentea
9	Cenchrus	Poonchi	Sand bur	Gramineae	M
	axillaris	ghas
10	Chloris		Finger grass	Gramineae
	barbata
11	Commelina	Kaua-Kaini	Dayflower	Commenlinaceae	M, m
	benghalensis
12	Corchorus	Jungli	Wild jute	Tiliaceae	M, m
	acutangulus	juti
13	Cucumis	Kolhi	Wild	Cucurbitaceae	M
	trigonus	kekedi	cucumber
14	Cynodon	Doobi	Bermuda	Gramineae	M, m
	dactylon		grass
15	Cyperus	Motha	Nut sedge	Cyperaceae	M, m
	sp.*
16	Dactyloctenium	Makra	Crowfoot	Gramineae	M
	aegypticum		grass
17	Digitaria		Crab	Gramineae	M
	ciliaris		grass
18	Echinocloa	Sawan	Jungle	Gramineae	M
	colonum		rice
19	Eclipta	Bhengra		Compositae	M, m
	alba*
20	Eleusine		Goose	Gramineae	M
	indica		grass
21	Eragrostis	Chiwra	Love	Gramineae
	cilianensis	phool	grass
22	Euphorbia	Dudhi	Spurge	Euphorbiaceae	M, m
	hirta*
23	Fimbristylis	Chuhaka		Cyperaceae	M
	barbata
24	Gomphrena			Amaranthaceae
	decumbens
25	Ischaemum	Badore		Gramineae	M
	rugosum
26	Kyllinga	Bandar		Cyperaceae	M
	brevifolius	phool
27	Leucas	Gumma		Labiatae	M, m
	aspera*
28	Ludwigia	Laung	Winter	Onagraceae
	octovalvis	phool	primose
29	Mimosa	Chhui	Sensitive	Leguminoseae	M
	pudica	mui	plant
30	Oxalis	Khatti	Wood	Oxalidaceae	M, m
	latifolia*	buti	Sorrel
31	Parthenium	Gajar	Congress	Compositae	M
	hysterophorus	ghas	weed
32	Phyllanthus	Bhuin	Niruri	Euphorbiaceae	M, m
	niruri*	awla
33	Physallis	Chirpoti	Ground cherry	Solanaceae	M, m
	minima
34	Paspalidium			Gramineae
	punctatum
35	Phaseolus	Mungesa	Wild	Leguminoseae	M, m
	trilobus		mung
36	Saccharum	Kansi		Gramineae	M
	spontaneum
37	Scoparia	Mithi		Scrophulariaceae	M
	dulcis	patti
38	Sida	Bariyara	Sida	Malvaceae	M, m
	cordata*
39	Solanum	Makoi	Night	Solanaceae	M
	nigrum		shade
40	Setaria		Foxtail	Gramineae	M
	glauaca
41	Ocimum	Van		Labiateae	M, m
	basilicum	tulsa
42	Tridax			Compositae	M, m
	procumbens

 

Table2	Scientific name	Common name	Family	Medicinal uses	Remarks
	1	2	3	4	5
Rabi weeds
1	Melilotus alba and M. indica*	Senji	Leguminoseae	Plant useful as discutient & emollient externally as a fomentation, poultice, or plaster of swelling	M, m
2	Spilanthes acmella	Akarkara	Compositeae	For diseases of mouth	M
3	Vicia sativa	Zillo	Leguminoseae	Seed used as emollient in the form of poultice	M
4	Chenopodium album	Bhathua	Chenopodiaceae	For hook worm, Leucoderma and skin problems	M, m
5	Sphaeranthus indicus	Mundi	Compositeae	For respiratory diseases	M, m
6	Cynodon dactylon	Doobi	Gramineae	Whole plant juice as astrigent, decoction of root as diuretic	M, m
7	Cyperas rotundus	Motha	Cyperaceae	Root is useful in leprosy, thirst, fever, diseases of the blood, billouseness, dysentry, intense itching, epilepsy, opthalmia	M, m
8	Medicago denticulata		Leguminoseae	As antidote to venom	M
9	Parthenium hysterophorus	Gajar ghas	Compositeae	Root decoction useful in dysentry	M
10	Vicoa vestata	Takla	Compositeae
11	Anagallis arvensis	Krishna neel	Primulaceae	For diseases of respiratory organs & genitals, also in hydrophobia	M
12	Euphorbia heterophylla	Duddhi	Euphorbiaceae	For respiratory diseases	M, m
13	Gomphrena decumbens		Amaranthaceae
14	Lathyrus sp.	Khesary	Leguminoseae	A reputed drug in Homoeopathic systems in medicine, oil from the seed is a powerful but dangerous cathartic	M
15	Launea sp.	Jangali palak	Compositeae	Used as lactagogue	M
16	Oxalis comiculata	Khatti-buti	Oxalidaceae	For skin diseases	M, m
17	Sonchus arvensis		Compositeae	Used as laxative and diuretic, root and leaves used as a tonic and febrifuge	M
18	Vemonia baldwini		Compositeae	Useful in treatment of asthma, bronchitis and constipation	M
19	Tridax procumbens	Bhengra	Compositeae	For all types of bleeding	M, m
20	Blumea lacera*	Kukurmutta	Compositeae	For bronchitis, fevers, thirst and burining sensations	M, m
21	Cirsium arvense	Kanta van	Compositeae
	M-Weeds having medicinal properties
	m-Weeds in use in Chhattisgarh as medicinal plant.
	*Weeds having heavy demand in national and international drug markets.

Yesterday I have seen the practical use of this herb. The traditional healers of Mudpar village used this herb on three patients having snake bite, during the field work at paddy fields. He collected roots and by rubbing it in stone and with the help of water, prepared an aqueous paste. This paste is applied externally on affected part. After sometime, he repeated the same procedure. And within no time, the patients got free from the trouble. Like other traditional healers, Shri Hanumat Prasad Verma, also have deep faith in worship. He uttered mantras during treatment. The relatives of these three patients thanked the healer and offered fees but as usual the healer refused to take any charge for this great support. On Wednesday 9th July, Mrs. Lalitha Krishnan from Sidney, Australia visited Chhattisgarh to meet the traditional healers and to see the natural herbs after reading my articles at Botanical.com. We visited many herbal farms and interacted with the traditional healers of Dashpal and Mudpar villages i.e. Shri Lakan Kashyap and Shri Hanumat Prasad Verma, respectively. In my previous articles, I have written a lot on rich traditional medicinal knowledge, Shri Verma is having but I always write that when I visit to the same healers and villages, every time I get new information. Both villages are in remote areas. I feel good to observe that the natives have deep faith in these healers.

In present article, I am giving details of new information, I have collected during recent visit. The healer of Mudpar village informed that he is getting good success in treatment of diabetes through common herb Koria. This herb has nothing to do with the country named Koria. In Chhattisgarh, Koriya is a name of one district also. I am trying to confirm that whether this district is named because of rich natural population of Koriya herb or not. The scientific name of Koriya is Wrightia tinctoria. It is a common herb found in deciduous forests. The healer informed me that the seed powder is much effective in treatment of diabetes. He recommends one teaspoonful of seed powder twice a day. You will be surprised to know that this healer also believes that diabetes is a curable disease. He is against the use of any anti-diabetes herb in whole life. According to him, if any herb suppresses the problem for time being than one must not use this herb. In treatment of diabetes, the healers know over 250 herbs but they use only those herbs that help in curing the disease. The healer of Mudpar village gives one packet of seed powder and simply says to the patients that one month of its use, will help in regularizing the function of pancreas. In most of the cases, the patients never visit to healers for the same problem. I am feeling proud to inform the world community about the research findings of our great healer. Unlike other healers, this healer simply discloses the herb or herbal formulation, he is using. But natives do not take advantage of this freedom and take herbs from him only. They know the importance of healer's touch. The use of Koria herb in treatment of diabetes has not been mentioned in reference literatures. In all parts of the world, the patients having the problem of diabetes are increasing and researchers are working hard to provide relief to these patients.

Through this article, I would like to request the researchers to focus their studies on this herb also. In my previous articles, I mentioned the poor economic conditions and responses from authorities, this healer was facing. In this visit, I got good news that the officers of nearby cement plant owned by L&T, have helped the healer to build new hospital also provided financial assistance. Every Thursday, he visits to the cement plant and treats the factory workers through his valuable traditional medicinal knowledge. In my field diaries, I have the list of over 6000 traditional healers and I am hopping that one day all healers will get the same facilities, recognition and honour. For the problem of diseased named Pseudo-psoraisis on scalp, the traditional healers suggested different herbs. The healer of Dashapal village suggested the use of Neem oil externally whereas the healer of Mudpar village gave extract of cow urine (black coloured cow), for external application and for internal use be suggested the use of Koriya seed powder. The term Pseudo-psoraisis was new for both healers. The healer of of Dashapal, addressed it Phafund bemari whereas Shri Verma named it as Diar Ghav. According to these healers, this trouble is common in different parts of Chhattisgarh. Both healers feel the pulse of wrist (Nadi) for diagnosis. The visitor from Australia got surprised to know the accuracy of their diagnosis. After the diagnosis, she showed the medicinal reports and it was exactly the same what the healers described. I am aware that it is next to impossible for me but I want to become an expert of this traditional method of diagnosis. One of my relative got the problem in Thyroid gland.

The medicinal practitioner recommended laboratory test. When for check, he went for same check up in four different laboratories, every laboratory gave different results. This is common observation in Chhattisgarh. The healer's method is simple, accurate and cheap. But the natives are aware that the registered doctors will never permit these traditional healers in their territories. As liver tonic, I got new formulation from the healer of Mudpar village. He uses the combination of Jaiphal, Hathi Kankar, Methi, Jatamansi, Asgandh, Cow ghee and Khopra in this combination. This combination is given upto one month only. According to him, it is good for lowering the cholestrol level. He further informed that he has tried Guggul in order to reduce the level of Cholestrol but not got desirable effects. The internet is full of information claiming that Guggul is capable of solving this problem effectively. Guggul is not found naturally in Chhattisgarh. The traditional healer accepts that possibly this is the reason that this is not showing full potential in Chhattisgarh as medicine. Dashapal village is situated near the Jagdalpur city of Bastar region. The traditional healer Shri Lakan is well known in the region as well as in India and abroad. He has visited many countries including Saudi Arabia to treat the patients having the problem of complicated diseases like blood cancer.

The Honourable Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh government is also aware of his expertise. Dashpal village is near Sargipal village. Sargi is a local name of valuable tree Sal (Shorea robusta). For the rich natural population of Sargi trees, the village is named as Sargipal. The healer informed that the availability of herbs in surrounding areas are decreasing at alarming rates and in search of herbs, he have to invest much time and effort. Like other healers, Shri Lakan charges no fees from the patients for his consultancy as well as for the drugs. Even he gives the container to carry drugs, free of cost. As he has visited many countries he knows little bit English also. He requests the patients to write their addresses on the walls of his home, just for memory. The wall is full of thousands of addresses, many from foreign countries. He is against the use of Patta Gobhi (Cabbage) as vegetable., He is unable to give the scientific reason but according to him, one can get rid from common troubles, simply by avoiding the use of Cabbage as vegetable. Cabbage is one of the popular vegetable in Chhattisgarh. I personally feel that this is a matter of scientific investigation, to search and establish the science for this recommendation by the healer. The healer of Mudpar village informed during field visit, that one can use the whole herb of Chui-Mui (Mimosa pudica) successfully in treatment of urine retention. According to him, one dose is sufficient to open the flow of urine. The visitor got surprised to know the in depth knowledge of these healers. As described in previous article, I always discourage the visitors to pressurize the healers to disclose their secrets. Fortunately, this visitor showed respect and honour to our healers.

Thank you very much for reading the article.