THRISSUR: ‘Marmachikilsa’ will get global attention as the Union government is planning to make the traditional healing therapy a part of ayurveda medicine practice. As part of this move, the Ministry of AYUSH had undertaken an Intra Mural Research Project titled ‘Documentation of Effective Marma Practices’ at the National Ayurveda Research Institute for Panchakarma at Cheruthuruthy near Thrissur for documenting various marmachikilsa practices relating to Kalari.
The documentation has been published by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH, as a book titled ‘Marmachikilsa - Basic Tenets in Ayurveda and Therapeutic Approaches’. The book was released by the ministry at the Regional Ayurveda Research Institute, Jhansi, in January.
Dr V C Deep, assistant director of the National Ayurveda Research Institute for Panchakarma here, said, “The plan is that after documenting the various aspects of the therapeutic marmachikilsa, the government is aiming to impart one-month training to practising ayurveda doctors in the country.” Already, the ayurveda doctors are well versed in the theoretic aspects of marmachikilsa, but the proposed training module would help them learn the therapeutic healing techniques from traditional healers in the sector, he said.
Dr Prathap Shankar, project investigator of the documentation, said as part of the project, various aspects of marmachikilsa, including from ayurveda marmachikilsa, kalari marmachikilsa and varmachikilsa, were documented with the help of 22 doyens in the fields from various parts of the country. “This would act as a repository of marmachikilsa. If the ayurvedic and kalari marmachikilsa branches mainly deal with the traumatic aspects of treatment, varmachikilsa of Tamil Nadu has almost evolved as a well-defined treatment branch for various diseases,” he said.
Marma is the term used to refer to the vital points in human body, which when impacted can cause extreme pain, disability or even death. The various aspects of the chikilsa ensure the free flow of the vital energy (prana), clearing the blocks in the energy pathways, and revitalise the body. The therapeutic treatment process has already a lot of takers from inside and outside the country.