An ashram in Kollam, almost cut off from society after being on the wane for the past several years, is searching for Tamil scholars to decipher the century-old palm leaf scrolls kept there.
The palm leaf scrolls, written in Senthamizhu or Kodumthamizhu, are believed to contain the secrets of rare and precious medicines for various ailments.Swami Chidananda Bharati, the seer of the Avadhoothashram, Sadanandapuram, Kottarakkara, is concerned about the precious knowledge lying unused for the past many decades.
Chidananda Bharathi, who assumed the status of the Seer ten years ago, is apparently worried over the lack of attention being shown to the scrolls.
“Once a doctor came to study the contents of the palm leaf scrolls. He took some books containing the contents copied from the scrolls. But he did not turn up to return the books or their deciphered version,” Swami told Express.
He also revealed that there are some clay jars containing several decade-old medicines (neettu marunnu) at the ashram. But unfortunately, the labels pasted on the jars were lost over the years and it requires the services of experts to identify the medicines.
The vagaries of time have already done damage as many of the precious scrolls and rare books have lost their shape and become illegible.
Owing to the bitter experience, the Swami is not willing to entrust anyone to take it with them for deciphering.
“I wish some reputed scholars came and deciphered the secrets for the benefit of the posterity,” he said. Over the years, the ashram has lost a major portion of the 300 acres of prime land on the side of the Main Central Road.
Now it is left with more than a hundred acres besides a 50-acre land at Kulathupuzha.
It is retaining its tradition of producing ayurvedic medicines as wished by founder seer Sadanandaswamikal. Still there are takers to these medicines as
no adulteration is practised here, says Ramananda Bharathi, the only other sanyasin at the ashram.
As the sanyasins here are not interested in converting the ashram’s resources for materialistic advancements, the potential of the ashram has remained untapped.
Out of the hundred acres of land of the ashram, more than sixty per cent of the land has been allowed to be retained as natural forest housing a large number of wild animals including porcupine, flying squirrel, mongoose, fox, Asian palm civets, poisonous snakes, and a large number of birds including peacocks.
There are temples of Lord Krishna, Durga, Saint Dhanwanthari besides the samadhi of the founder seer Sadanandaswamikal who set up the Ashram in Malayalam calendar year of 1075.
The ashram is now facing the threat of discontinuation of the line of disciples.