02-08-2025
Guardians of the green cure: Kani healers fight to keep forest medicine alive
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There is a girlish spright in her steps as she sashays into the thick, verdant spread surrounding her mud house, the insides of which reflect a deeply earthy aesthetic — smoking stoves, dim interiors, and a clustered room brimming with mementoes and accolades she has earned over the years.
At 81, Lakshmikutty Amma takes pride in all that she has achieved, especially the Padma Shri, which reached her from Delhi to the remote, reclusive stretch of land nestled in Ponmudi's Kallar forest range.
She remains passionately engaged in her vocation, one handed down through generations of her tribe, the Kani, known for their intrinsic knowledge of the Western Ghats.
'I have two people coming tomorrow for treatment,' Lakshmi exclaims, adding that people seek her help for relief from migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, and lifestyle ailments related to diabetes or blood pressure. 'But my forte is vishavaidyam, that is treating poisoning from bites of snakes or other reptiles.'
Both Ayurvedic and allopathic practitioners come to learn from her — a Class 8 dropout. 'But remember, Class 8 in my youth was a hefty education for tribespeople,' she smiles.
Though Lakshmi is the most well-known, the stretch of forest is home to several such traditional physicians from the Kani clan who continue to practise tribal medicine. Mallan Kani and his son Ashok are one such duo, running a clinic near the main road leading to Ponmudi.
