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Ayurvedic Influences in Folk Medicine: a Case Study of a Folk Medicinal Practitioner of Jhalokathi in BARIsal District, Bangladesh

Symun Naher
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Bushra Ferdous
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Tuli Datta
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Umme Faria Rashid
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Tamanna Nahian Tasnim
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Sharmin Akter
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Sadia Moin Mou
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Mohammed Rahmatullah
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Ayurvedic and folk medicinal systems exists side-by-side in Bangladesh. A number of folk medicinal practitioners claim that their medicinal formulations are based on Ayurvedic treatises. An interview was conducted of a folk medicinal practitioner in Jhalokathi of Barisal district, Bangladesh who claimed that his formulations are Ayurveda-based. A total number of 44 plants were obtained from the practitioner, of which 43 plants could be identified. The identified plants were distributed into 30 families. A major feature of the formulations of the practitioner was that most formulations were complex formulations and consisted of multiple plants or plant parts, and a number of the plants were used for the treatment of multiple diseases. The complexity of formulations matches Ayurvedic formulations, most of which are complex and consist of multiple plants or plant parts. However, Ayurvedic formulations may include distillation, fermentation, and decoctions as part of the formulation preparation process, and can also contain metals in the form of herbo-metallic complexes. In contrast, the formulations of the practitioner did not involve any complex processes during their preparation, lacked metals, and essentially consisted of juice extracted from a combination of multiple plant parts. On the other hand, some of the plants used by the practitioner also had similar Ayurvedic uses, indicating at least some Ayurvedic influences. Available scientific literature showed that the uses of a number of the plants by the practitioner were scientifically validated based on their reported pharmacological properties. Since Ayurveda and folk medicine both dates back thousands of years ago, it is concluded that the two traditional medicinal systems possibly have interacted and still interacting and influencing each other to some extent.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Folk medicine, Ayurveda, Bangladesh.

Location: Jhalokathi in Barisal district, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Development of Host and Medicinal Plants

Commodity: Medicinal Plants

Objectives:

The objective of this study was to document plants and medicinal formulations of a folk medicinal healer in Jhalokathi of Barisal district, Bangladesh, who claimed his formulations were Ayurveda-based and to evaluate his formulations for possible Ayurvedic influences. A further objective was to evaluate the efficacy of his formulations on the basis of available scientific reports on the various medicinal plants that he used in his formulations.

Methodology:

Informed consent was first obtained from the Kaviraj, Niranjan Pal, by religion Sonaton Hindu, age around 75 years, and practicing according to him for the last 50 years. He claimed to have acquired his knowledge from his father and grandfather. He was also associated with an Ayurvedic medicine manufacturer, named Sebasri Oushadhalay. The Kaviraj also claimed himself to be a specialist in female diseases. Consent was obtained to disseminate any information provided both nationally and internationally. Interviews were conducted in Bengali language, both Kaviraj and the interviewers belonging to the mainstream Bengali speaking population. Actual interviews were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method of Mrtin (1995) and Maundu (1995). In this method, the Kaviraj took the interviewers on field trips through areas from where he collected his medicinal plants, pointed out the plants, and described their uses. On occasions, the process was reversed with the Kaviraj first naming the plant and describing the medicinal uses of the plant, and then taking the interviewers to spots where the plant grew and then pointed out the plant. Plant specimens as pointed out by the Kaviraj were photographed and collected on the spot, dried and pressed, and then brought back to Dhaka for complete identification by Mr. Manjur-Ul-Kadir Mia, ex-Curator and Principal Scientific Officer of the Bangladesh National Herbarium. Voucher specimens were deposited with the Medicinal Plant Collection Wing of the University of Development Alternative.

Source of Information: American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 7(4): 295-305, 2013 ISSN 1995-0748

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Taken together, a number of the plants used by the Kaviraj are considered as Ayurvedic medicinal plants and their uses by the Kaviraj match mentioned Ayurvedic uses. This observation suggests that at least some interactions have taken place over the centuries between Ayurvedic physicians and folk medicine practitioners, which are not surprising, considering the fact that the two systems have existed side-by-side for millennia. Several plants used by the Kaviraj can also be scientifically validated in their uses from existing scientific studies on the pharmacological properties of the plants. Ayurveda uses complex formulations of medicinal plants; the approach is total in the sense that the various plants used to balance each other so that the total action is synergistic and any given plant can negate any other plant’s adverse effects if any. So if a particular plant is used for the treatment of the disease or symptoms and forms the major ingredient but has at the same time other adverse effects, that effect is balanced through the introduction of other plants. Folk medicine is not so complicated, but still deserves further scientific attention towards the possible discovery of new and effective drugs.

Knowledge Management: Journal