Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Siddha System of Medicine, the oldest Ancestor of Modern Medicine, Siddhar Agastyar, the Grand Sire of Medicine for Mankind- Hiramalini Seshadri


Perspective-
Siddha System of Medicine, the oldest Ancestor of Modern Medicine,
Siddhar Agastyar, the Grand Sire of Medicine for Mankind
&
Need to establish the antiquity of Siddha System of Medicine and restore national pride in our medical heritage.


Author Information
By Dr Hiramalini Seshadri MBBS(Vellore) MD(Gen.Med.)

Independent Researcher


                                                           
Conventional View:
The gold standard as of now among books dealing with the medical history of the world is the tome by Porter(1) . However, in the words of a reviewer, it is mainly "a medical history of Europe (but mostly the UK) and the US from 1750 to the late 90s". One or two chapters deal with medicine in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Asia; but the vast majority of the book focuses on the Western world and Western medicine of the 19th century, when huge medical advances took place. (2) All medical textbooks and authors including Porter, consider Hippocrates of Kos, (c. 460 – c. 370 BCE), as the Father of Modern Medicine.
As for the first Physician’s title, Western historians credited the title of First Physician, to  Imhotep, chief minister to King Djoser in the 3rd millennium BCE, who was later regarded as the Egyptian God of medicine and identified with the Greek God, Asclepius..(3)

Proposed New View:
However, there is enough evidence to suggest that this world view will have to be changed. At our present state of knowledge, the system of medicine referred to as Siddha Medicine, developed by the highly advanced agricultural antediluvian civiliisation of southern India would deserve to be called the foundation for modern medicine. There is also evidence building up that the land the ancient Siddhars walked, ie, southern peninsular India, extended far beyond its present coastline. There is increasing evidence to suggest that it subsequently went under the ocean due to rising sea levels. In fact, if Hippocrates be considered the father of Modern Medicine, I would like to propose that Siddhar Agastyar should rightfully be venerated as the ‘ Grand Sire of Modern Medicine’.
The history of Siddha Medicine antedates Hippocrates and Greek medicine by over 5000 years. Imtohep was doubtless an all time great Physician; but the credit of being the First Physicians of the precursor of modern medicine must go to the great Siddha Physicians who lived over 4000 years before him.
Clarifying what the term ‘Siddha’ denotes:
Before we go into Siddha Medicine and Siddhars, a clarification is in order.
 The term Siddha is loosely used to denote many groups. (4)
Maheswara Siddhas –Siva devotees of the Deccan
Mahasiddha / Siddhacharyas Buddhist Tantrikas from West Bengal
Rasa Siddhas– alchemists of medieval India
Nath Siddhas- recluse Saints of North India
Siddhars / Sitthars / Siddhas– alchemists cum yogis cum physicians who were Masters of physical existence as well as existence in other dimensions. Tamil speaking, they lived in the southern Indian peninsula and SriLanka and possibly  in now submerged lands off the coast of India of Tamilnadu. ‘Siddhar’ in this paper refers to these Masters of South India.
They were Master Physicians, alchemists and Yogis.

Hitherto held view:
Till the nineteen nineties, despite accurate information regarding the Great Pandya dynasty that ruled the land mass that extended beyond the present Indian shoreline, called Kumari Kandam in Tamil, with the names of successive rulers, as well as exact details about the three historic Great Sangams (Conclaves of fine arts, literature and knowledge), with details of the participants which included the Great Siddhar Agastyar, dating as far back as 10,000+ years BP,  as there was no archaeological evidence on present day land, historians tended to dismiss those historical events as ‘myth’; and Siddhars like Agastyar  were considered ‘mythological’ figures. The oldest timeline for human habitation in the landmass of Tamilnadu at that time, accepted by archaeologists, was 500 BC; and hence despite the accuracy of the literary evidence, the dates and venues of the Great ‘Sangams’ ( Conclaves dedicated to literature, fine arts and science) being available, and despite the accurate geneology and names of all the Great Pandya Kings being available, even Indian archaeologists and historians preferred to subscribe to the Western view that all culture and civilization came to India from central Asia, and that too, only as late as 1500 BC. The repeated mention of ‘kadal kolls’ ( tsunamis / incursions by the sea) having swallowed the  ancient shoreline of peninsular India was not accepted and was considered an unreal possibility.
However, scientific research findings in the 21st century have changed this view. In fact human history itself stands poised to be rewritten.

New Evidence:  
-          Human habitation has been established to have been present in the southern Indian peninsula near Chennai in Tamilnadu, as far back as one million years plus BP. Human activity near Chennai, in Attirampakkam, dating back to over a million years ago has been found by archaeologists in this 21st century(5)

-          Off the coast of Tamil Nadu, a man-made structure twenty-three metres beneath the sea, five kilometres off the Tarangambadi- Poompuhar coast near Nagapattinam in South India dated to be 11,000+ years BP have been found. According to historian N Parameswaran, ‘ It was the work of a civilisation that archaeologists had failed to identify as its ruins lie submerged so deep beneath the sea. As Mr. S. R. Rao, the doyen of Indian marine archaeology, stated in February 2002, “I do not believe it is an isolated structure; further exploration is likely to reveal others around it.” ‘.(6) Unfortunately no further explorations have been done.

-           But this is evidence enough that over 11000 years ago a great civilization must have flourished in the Poompuhar area. Further,  archaeologists have found at Keeladi in Tamilnadu the ruins of a highly advanced civilization dating back to 580 BC by carbon dating; and at Adichanallur, near the erstwhile ancient Pandyan port city of Korkai, the artifacts were dated to around 2500 to 3000 years BP ( 7)(8)(9) Marine archaeological studies are sure to throw up more evidence of the Great Pandyan civilization on the ocean bed.
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Newer evidence about sunken lands nearby, with which  Kumari Kandam had links, pushes back these dates to over 20,000+ BP.(10) In the area of present day Indonesia, the Sundaland  ancestors, like the Kumari people,  seem to have had a very advanced civilization according to the findings of geologist Dr Danny Hilman. (11) (12) The prehistoric civilization in Sundaland vanished under the sea around 12,000 years ago, So did most likely, Kumari Kandam.(13)  Shanmuganayagam of Sri Lanka  states, According to geo physical research based on the movement of the continental plates, the Lanka of Ravana was situated in the continent of Lemuria, also known as Kumari Kandam, which was a land mass, connecting the Deccan plateau in South India and the island of Ceylon, with intervening straits to be crossed, with Madagascar in the West, Australia on the East and Antarctica on the South, until it sank into the Indian ocean in stages over 3,500 years ago, as mentioned in the writings of the German geologist Wagner anti the eminent Indologist Sir T.W. Holderness.” (14)

-Much land went under the sea beginning in the early Holocene, or the end of the Younger Dryas period, causing a bottle neck of human population.  There were population turnovers from Southeast, East and South Asia to Europe, Near East and the Caucasus, suggesting that the end of the Younger Dryas period caused the refugium of those populations to migrate and establish new civilizations. From the archaeological data, the end of Younger Dryas was also marked by the emergence of many civilizations around the world. The dispersal is also detected by the genetic studies..” (15) (16)

-          A media report from Godavaya, Sri Lanka: 14 March 2009,reported a landmass  estimated to be between 450,000 and 475,000 square kilometres, which is about seven times the total land area of Sri Lanka.(17) has been found off the Sri Lankan cast in the Indian Ocean. The prestigious journal, Nature has published evidence for a huge landmass under Mauritius which is about the size of a small continent extending towards India and Madagascar. (18) That this area was prone to high volcanic activity, earthquakes and therefore to tsunamis is an accepted fact today.(19)
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-           Also sunken ridges in both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal point to the fact that the coastline of peninsular India stretched far beyond the present coastline in ancient times. According to Sri Lankan writer C Shanmuganayagam, Kumari Kandam extended from the present-day Kanyakumari in the north to Kerguelen island in the south, and from Madagaskar in the west to Sunda island in the east. Before BC 30,000 Pandiyans ruled this entire Kumari Kandam.(14) (20)
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-          Scholar Dr Mahalingam states, “This is the time to write the correct history of Tamil Nadu. In “Irayanar Agapporul” (Nakkeerar Urai) it is mentioned that 72 Pandiya Kings had ruled Tamil Nadu (which was inclusive of the destroyed Kumari Kandam) from 30,000 B.C. to 16,000 B.C. (i.e. for 14,000 years)”. (21)
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-          Inundation maps confirm the existence of vast landmasses above sealevel in ancient times which subsequently went under the waters due to sea level rises. Dr Glen Milne of the University of Durham’s Department of Geology, through state-of-the art computerised “inundation maps”. This helps us picturise how the 25 million square kilometres of land was swallowed up by the rising seas post Ice Age. Of the Indian subcontinent, the inundation maps reveal that,  Around India close to a million square miles were lost — mostly in the northwest and the southeast coasts.”(22)

-           Historian N Parameswaran writes and I quote,” “The Durham geologists led by Dr. Glen Milne have shown in their maps that South India between 17,000-7,000 years ago extended southward below Cape Comorin (Kanya Kumari) incorporating present day Ilankai/ Sri Lanka. It had an enhanced offshore running all the way to the Equator. The maps portray the region as no history or culture is supposed to have known it. The much larger Tamil homeland of thousands of years ago as described in the Kumari Kandam tradition takes shape.”

-          Parameswaran’s research and that of many others across the world including modern day marine explorer, Graham Hancock,  supports the opening of the Kumari Kandam flood tradition set in the remote pre-historic period of 12,000 –10,000 years ago. The inundation specialists confirm that between 12,000-10,000 years ago Peninsular India’s coastlines would have been bigger than what they are today before they were swallowed up by the rising seas at the end of the Ice Age. (6)

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-          Evidence is steadily increasing pointing to the fact that after the last Ice Age, a cosmic impact around 12800 years ago led to global warming and sea level rise. Extinction of several species event as well as dispersal of man from coastal areas occurred . This was followed by a cold age and a second global warming and sea level rise around 11600 years ago, leading again to warming and sea level rises and human migration from coastal areas to newer lands. (23) (24) (25) (26)
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-          The oceanographic researches have conclusively proven that the sea level in the Indian peninsula has risen by 100 meters in the last 14500 years.(27) Interestingly, the sea level has risen more than 60 meters during the period of 4400 or 4440 years of the first Sangam period (11226-6826 BCE). Science News (December 4, 2010) titled “Global Sea-Level Rise at the End of the Last Ice Age Interrupted by Rapid Jumps” supports the idea that sea level rise inundated coastal peninsular India. More precisely, the study showed that the periods between 13000 BC and 11000 BC, as well as between 9000 BC and 7000 BC, were characterized by abnormal sea-level rise. (28)
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-          Ancient flood stories are present world wide, including the sinking of KumariKandam. It indicates that they were derived from a common origin.”(29) Over 500 Flood legends are known worldwide. (30) Noah and the flood being the most well known story. Though scientists for a long time were apt to dismiss the  Noah story, geological research shows that it was a real event.(31)

-          Evidence that these civilisations were highly advanced, comes from Gobeli Teki in Turkey where a Date Stone( the Vulture stone),as mentioned earlier, records the meteor showers. That the Tamil tradition from Kumari/ Kumeru  taken by survivors to Mesopotamia later became the Sumeru or  Sumerian civilization is accumulating. Likewise there is evidence that the survivors from Kumari most probably founded the Saraswathi river civilization In the Gulf of Cambay area, marine archeology has shown through dating of artifacts and through deep side sonar scans that while human activity is clearly seen 31,000 years BP, an advanced agricultural civilisation that  had granaries, planned cities and knew pottery making etc lived 13000 years BP. Satellite pictures have shown that the Saraswathi river did exist in those times and these are considered the Saraswathi riverine civilization which was the forerunner of the Harappan civilization. .(32) 

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-          The Saraswathi civilization preceded  the Harappan and Indus valley  civilization. The research done by Fr. Heras and Sir John Marshall the archaeologist and other scholars into the archaeological finds at Mohenjodaro and Harappa point to the existence of an earlier highly developed Dravidian civilization in the deep South which, had influenced the Indus-Valley Aryan civilization of the North.(20)
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-          Researcher  J Saranathan  and Sanskrit scholar, David Frawley who has researched the Rig Veda in depth, both state that Kumeru people migrated to the North of India,  via Saraswathy. It was Vaivasvatha Manu who entered North India, with his people and sages who were already well versed in Vedic practices. Upon reaching Saraswathy, the Rig Vedas were given over a period of time. Saranathan states that actually no Vedic scholar would accept the chronological dating of Vedas done by foreign researchers. The arrangement of the 4 Vedas was done many millennia earlier, ago by Ved Vyas. Frawley states that the Rig Veda with over 150 mentions of the sea, was the product of a great maritime southern civilization and not the product of nomadic land-lubber central Asians. . (33)(34)(35)(36)
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-          Mahalingam continues,  According to N.P.Ramadurai, an astronomy researcher, the cycle of time referring to 24,320 human years is mentioned in the Rig Veda at about 50 places. But N.P.Ramadurai, with my assistance, has found and established that the Saptha Rishi Mandala takes only 2,187 years to make one complete circle through all the 27 asterisms. He was able to establish that Chathur Yuga comprises only 12,160 years. To get back the history of more than three lakh years in the past, Saptharishi calendar only will be able to provide proper and genuine assistance.
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-          We have been able to fix the dates of history from 25th Chathur Yuga to 28th Chathur Yuga. Saptharishi Mandala has played an important role in almost all the ancient civilization of the world. It is the pivotal point of all astronomical calculations and observations.”(21) Traditionally cycles of 12,160 years, according to Indian thought, end with global flooding and thereafter civilization re-establishes itself.”(21) That in every cycle of time antediluvian civilisations existed, and deluges occured is corollary to astronomy as deduced from the Rig Veda.(37)
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-          Evidence is mounting that the Great Siddhars led the Kumari survivors founding civilisations in various parts of the globe. As Shanmuganayagam reports, “ Śrī Agastiyar led a migration of Dravidians to Java and Cambodia and Central and South America. The legends of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs of South America regarding the founding of their cultures by tall beared white-robed teachers confirm the tradititional view that the Lemurians( the name western researchers used for Kumari people), under the guidance of their siddhas, colonized North and South America, as well as the Nile Valley, when they founded the Egyptian civilization”.(38)(39)(40)
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-          Statues of Agastyar have been found all over South East Asia and even the Maori of New Zealand worship an Agastyar figure.(41)(42)
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-          - multiple references  exist in Tamil and Sanskrit literature to the existence of the Kumari lands Their traditions refer to extensive lands submerged in the remote past that had once existed in the Indian Ocean, south of Kanya Kumari or Cape Comorin.  The topography of the lands including its mountains and rivers and the  incursions by the sea, called ‘kadal koll  are clearly mentioned in the epics of  Tamil of the second and third Sangams.(43)(44) (45)(46)
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-          Epigraphic inscriptions in the Vilvakkudi and Sinnammannur plates have recorded the geneology of the Great Pandyas and the high  achievements of  that ancient civilization.(47)
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-          -As reported in The Hindu, dated 11.02.2011, S.Ramasamy, scholar and Vice-Chancellor, Gandhigram Rural Institute — Deemed University, Dindigul revealed that  scientific citations found in Tamil literature can be used as geological time scale to measure the geographical events of the earth over the past 40,000 years, There are also references to marine transgressions, tsunami, tectonic movement of earth plate, sea level change, and earth movement in the Tamil literary works. Satellite pictures of earth and computer simulation corroborate the scientific citations found in Tamil Literature, Dr.Ramasamy said.(48)
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-          One reason why the Tamil Siddhars were considered mythological figures was because of the ‘Siddhis’ attributed to them which historians considered unreal and impossible.  Copper plate inscriptions have been excavated in Tamilnadu which record the names of Pandya kings from the first Sangam period all the way to through the third Sangam period to the final invasion of the Pandya kingdom by the Cholas. The copper plates refer to Agastya being the Kula Guru of the Pandyas. They refer to feats they accomplished like going around the earth, travelling to other dimensions such as the realms of the Devas etc These were dismissed by historians who studied these plates as myth. But today, thanks to researcher, Scudder of NASA, we know that such things could be possible; we know of portals or x-points where the earth’s and sun’s magnetic fields meet, which have been hypothesized to have the ability to transport things or persons across the cosmos. (49)
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-          Interestingly, this seems to be knowledge mentioned in the Vedas. Ancient South Indian temples are allegedly energy centres and their location is linked to portals.(50) We have to be open mnded enough not to dismiss such possibilities out of hand.
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-          That the culture that existed in those ancient times was a highly refined and sensitive one, tuned to human values is apparent from just one line in the copper plate. It mentions   that the Pandya king sacrificed himself for his master ie Guru; this itself  shows the highly refined culture of the Pandyas. Such a civilization has to be much more than just a savage hunter gatherer civilization.(47)
More evidence comes from China and South America. Another great Siddhar and Physician, Boganathar may have gone as far as south America and China according to modern archaeological finds. A quote from SV Ramanan’s blog cannot but trigger curiosity to know more about these wondrous Siddhars of yore. Based upon the life story of the Siddha Bhoganāthar narrated by Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah in his introduction to the third volume of the collected works of Bhoganathar, Bogar Kandam Yogam: Babaji’s Yoga of Boganathar, and based on his own notes, Ramanan writes,  In one of his songs Bhoganāthar claims to have flown to China at one point in a sort of airplane which he built: he held discussions with Chinese Siddhas before returning to India (Kailasapathy, 1969, p. 197-211). His visit to South America has been confirmed by accounts left by the Muycas of Chile:
Bocha, who gave laws to Muycas, was a white, bearded man, wearing long robes, who regulated the calendar, established festivals, and vanished in time like others (other remarkable teachers who had come across the Pacific according to numerous legends of Incas, Aztecs and Mayans).”  (51)
 In ancient times people from India and the Indian archipelago migrated to America and developed a great civilization there. In his book, 'A Compact History of Mexico' Mr. Ignacio Bernall states that people from Asia entered America some thirty-five thousand years before, whereas Mr. Arcio Nuns, a Brazilian nuclear scientist, mentions about the Dravidians of Asia with America as old as eleven thousand years. Boganathar being in South America is indeed possible.
 Linguistic links with both Tamil and Sanskrit exist .I quote a recent online article by Chinchmalatpure, “Both the Hindus and Americans used similar items in their worship rituals. They both maintained the concept of four Yuga cycles, or cosmological seasons, extending over thousands of years, and conceived of twelve constellations with reference to the sun as indicated by the Incan sun calendar.
 Royal insignias, systems of government and practice of religious dance and temple worship all showed remarkable similarities, pointing strongly to the idea that the Americas were strongly influenced by the Aryans. The theory is found in the Vedic literature of India. The ancient Puranas (literally "histories") and the Mahabharata make mention of the Americas as lands rich with gold and silver. Argentina, which means "related to silver", is thought to have been named after Arjuna (of silver hue)”.
Another scholar, Ramon Mena, author of Mexican Archaelogy, called the Nahuatl, Zapoteca, and Mayan languages "of Hindu origin." He went to say, "A deep mystery enfolds the tribes that inhabited the state of Chiapas in the district named Palenque... their writing, and the anthropological type, as well as their personal adornments... their system and style of construction clearly indicate the remotest antiquity... (they) all speak of India and the Orient." History itself obviously needs rewriting.
Southern India in prehistoric times had worldwide connections and migrations consequent to incursions by the sea took the ancient south Indian vedic culture to many parts of the globe.
Still another scholar, Ambassador Miles Poindexter, a former ambassador of the United States to Mexico, in his two-volume 1930s treatise The Arya-Incas, called the Mayan civilization "unquestionably Hindu." He proposed that primitive Aryan words and people came to America by the island chains of Polynesia. The Mexican name for boat is a South Indian Tamil word, Catamaran, and Poindexter gives a long list of words of the Quichua languages and their analogous forms in Sanskrit. Similarities between the hymns of the Inca rulers of Peru and Vedic hymns have been pointed out.
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-          Open minded students of archeology, and earth history globally today agree that the capabilities of people  at the Paleolithic to Neolithic transition have been underestimated, and a key influence on the Neolithic revolution might have been over-looked. One is forced to admit that ancient man in the even in Paleolithic times possibly had developed civilisations which were very advanced; and that in some aspects like consciousness research, they were even more advanced than us.
-           Frawley points out that recent findings of Graham Hancock and others suggest that undoubtedly greater Vedic civilisations much more advanced in consciousness research must have predated our modern material civilization.(36) Modern historians need to give ancient man more credit than being just hunter gatherers. It is my humble submission that the contribution of the people of the Indian peninsula, particularly by the Great Siddhars of prninsular India, between 20000 and 5000 years ago must be considered to belong to that category.
 - The very fact that Sangams dedicated to literature, poetry, music, astronomy, philosophy and so on were continuous events patronized by the rulers and which went on for thousands of years outliving its patrons speaks about the high thinking and refinement of this civilization. The Great Siddhars belong to that highly refined civilization that existed beyond the shores of present day peninsular India.
-Further evidence for the existence of the Great Siddhars comes from the presence of multiple ‘Jeeva Samadhis’ all over Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh even today. Also many of the great temples of Tamil Nadu are associated with the ‘Jeeva Samadhis’ of the Great Siddhars.
-Palm Leaf inscriptions, many of which are still with families practicing traditional Siddha Medicine are proof of the existence of the Great Siddhars and the astonishing scientific knowledge they had.
A disturbing commentary is that, as Hancock states, more money is spent on learning the contours of Venus than our own ocean floors! Geo-political power games are possibly the real reason. The western powers probably prefer that the oceans remain international waters which they rule. Finding submerged lands in the Indian ocean that would extend the maritime boundaries of Madagascar, Mauritius, Pakistan, India, SriLanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and so on, is perhaps not something that the establishment of the day wants.
So it is really up to oceanographers, archaeologists and historians of India and the other developing countries of Asia to take the lead in this matter. That the discovery of such ancient lands and artefacts will challenge the conventional world view of history which even now states that modern civilisation began only around 3000 years ago is another matter.
The mental block that makes  Indian historians and archaeologists merely tow the line proposed by western historians  while they are blind to literary evidence and historical accounts maintained meticulously in the Indian oral tradition as well as in palm leaf manuscripts in ancient Indian scripts and in copper plate inscriptions is deplorable. It takes a David Frawley turned Vama Deva Shastri and a Graham Hancock to bring out the traditional Indian point of view backed up by solid literary and local historical accounts.
Listening to an independently organised Ted Talk in Coimbatore.(51) where a comprehensive scientific argument that proves that Kumari Kandam was real and not a myth was put forward most elegantly by VS Ramanan is recommended.
So having presented the evidence that suggests that it is very likely that lands existed beyond the present shores of India and that a highly advanced civilization existed there, with the Great Siddhars representing the pinnacle of evolution of man in that time period, let us look at the Siddha system of medicine that they espoused and the Great Siddhar Physician, Agastyar.
The Great Siddhas walked the earth in that distant pre-Ice Age, ante-diluvian  past in the great south Indian peninsula which most likely extended then, far beyond the present coastline..(50)

Basic Concepts of Ancient Siddhars:
The traditional eastern systems of medicine, exemplified by the ancient Siddha physicians laid great importance on physicians developing an expansive sense of self through meditation and yoga.(‘oga’ in Tamil, which later became ‘yoga’ in Sanskrit) While western science draws deductions by objective measureable evidence, the eastern system relied on going inward.(52)

Methods used in Inward Study:
The ancient Siddha Masters of India drew deductions by observation, and thereafter by concentrating on, contemplating on, and then by meditating on nature and on their own selves.. What does meditation mean? Simply put, it is going inwards to the various levels of existence of our own selves, in Consciousness. Behind the physical existence, there is a mental existence and even deeper to it exist subtler levels of existence, till the centre point of existence which is pure Consciousness, revealed the ancients. Deductions were made by accessing and functioning from these different levels of existence.

Concept of Food Body:
By observation these ancient Indian Masters deduced that though food, water and air were equally important for existence, the more subtle the element the more crucial its need was; one could live for weeks without food; but only days without water; and only minutes without air. Energy, that was subtler, was even more vital; for example, a cardiac arrest could kill one in seconds.

Concept of the Mind:
Thoughts and feelings which constituted the mind, were even subtler; so powerful was the mind that a mind gone awry could cause one to self-destruct; even commit suicide. They studied the mind through observing, contemplating and meditating on it. While going inward to the self, through meditation they discovered that the mind was the first thing that one encountered. By contemplating on it, they deduced that it was just a bundle of thoughts and emotions. We modern humans tend to identify ourselves with our mind.
However, the ancients, by witnessing the mind, ie, watching thoughts and feelings pass by, they realised that one’s identity had to be beyond thoughts and emotions. As one could observe one’s body and mind as a witness, one obviously had to have an identity that was in reality beyond the body and mind. Name and form were thought / ego based identities; just as a ball of wool is only thread rolled on itself over and over, ego is only thoughts and emotions rolled over; ego had no real existence. These ancient Siddhars thus knew by experience that their identity was not the ego mind linked to the physical form with name. In fact, the great Siddhas, by experience were masters of the ego.
They researched the mind thoroughly; and conceived the idea of broadly four kinds of mental processes. Firstly, the intellect which dissects- which modern culture emphasizes too much to its peril; secondly, the emotional mind which is linked to memory, and keeps one in turmoil; thirdly, memory. Besides immediate, short and long term memory, they spoke of past life memory, genetic memory, species memory, karmic memory… In fact they spoke of a ‘mind body’ linked to memory, which again, they deduced, was a vestiture of the self..
They realised that the mind could go in two directions. Like water flows from higher to lower, the mind too tended to move outward to the lower physical realm rather than higher intelligence realm. But it could be trained to go inward to the subtle realm of supreme intelligence too! A fundamental discovery the ancient Masters made was that the ego-mind was not one’s identity.  The mind was essentially a tool to be used to go outward or inward; and not one’s identity.

Concept of Supreme Intelligence Body:
The ancients also discovered that through deep meditation, they could go past the mind, and tap into a supreme intelligence that permeates the body; This vestiture of pure highest intelligence, which was beyond the mind-body, they discovered, was in fact, the omniscience facet of Consciousness. This was an intelligence far superior to brain intellect, permeates all of creation and is therefore, present in every cell of the body. In simple terms, it is the intelligence that turns cheese and toast into a human body; the intelligence that creates the wonders of nature.; the intelligence which leaves scientists awestruck at the perfection of creation.
Does such a cosmic intelligence exist? What are modern medical views? To quote Dr.Robert Lanza, “It is as if everything (the universe) contains — from atoms to stars — was tailor-made just for us. If the Big Bang had been one part in a million more powerful, it would have rushed out too fast for the galaxies and life to develop. Result: no us. If the strong nuclear force were decreased two percent, atomic nuclei wouldn’t hold together, and plain-vanilla hydrogen would be the only kind of atom in the universe. If the gravitational force were decreased by a hair, stars — including the sun — would not ignite.  In fact, all of the universe's forces and constants are just perfectly set up for atomic interactions, the existence of atoms and elements, planets, liquid water and life. Tweak any of them and you never existed.”(53)
In fact, this finding has been referred to as the “Goldilocks Principle”. Hundreds of parameters of the cosmos, near miraculously, combined to make conditions, which like in the final Goldilocks’ choice, was not “too this” or “too that,” but rather “just right” - for life!
Only a highest intelligence could have worked it out; ordinary folk call it God; scientists are forced to admit that there must be Consciousness with supreme intelligence behind it. The old theory of the universe - that such perfect conditions occurred randomly - seems not quite plausible. Lanza says that in order for science to move forward, it needs to venture into new territory. “Science hasn’t confronted the one thing that’s most familiar and most mysterious, and that is, of course, Consciousness,”.(53)
This meditative ability to tap into supreme intelligence or wisdom, enabled the ancient Masters to make, what in retrospect, seem to be fairly flawless conclusions. The methods they employed were the following.  The National Institute of Siddha states, “Meditation, yoga and awakening the ‘kundalini shakthi’ – all of which helped the Siddha physicians tap into and be guided by supreme intelligence, was part of the training of ancient Siddha physicians . The clarified intellect and heightened intuition of the Siddhars, resulting from their yogic powers, enabled them to explore the world around them and exploit its natural resources for the sake of humanity.”(54)

Concept of Siddhis:
 By using the tantric techniques of activating ‘kundalini’, they were able to access the omniscience vestiture which is the repository of all awareness, knowledge and wisdom. The transfer of knowledge was telepathic to put it in modern terms. By using the mind right, ie by shining one’s awareness in a totally focused manner, on the omniscient intelligence aspect, one could make discoveries, sharpen intuition and achieve perception beyond the ordinary. This ability to achieve perception and other abilities beyond the ordinary, in fact gave the name ‘Siddhars’ to these physicians; a ‘Siddhar’ was one who attained ‘powers or Siddhis’ through meditation.
 Going into the details of the various Siddhis attainable is beyond the purview of this article. But  it is also appropriate at this moment, to mention that researchers in noetic sciences have revealed in a 2018 youtube video of a medical conference at the University of Virginia, that in their studies meditators have been found to experience these same paranormal powers. There are also books and articles on the same by the Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Prof Radin, in this 21st century. (55) (56) (57)(58) Dr Greer who heads C-SETI ( Centre for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) reports about such ‘Siddhis’ being studied and possibly used, by military agencies of the west.(59)
A very important meditative insight and experience of the ancient Indian Masters, was that that this wisdom body or supreme intelligence body/vestiture was a singularity. All of creation shared this higher humane vestiture of supreme intelligence,( supreme intelligence/ wisdom body) Therefore, on reaching this wisdom body plane, meditatively,  the ancient Indian Masters experienced a oneness with all of creation.
 Besides this unitary experience which helped them experience an identity far more expansive than constricted body identity, through the supreme intelligence vestiture, they also developed a greater understanding of the physical body and the energies that sustained it. They realised that the evanescent physical vestiture / body was a conglomeration of the basic five elements of nature so transformed by the supreme intelligence. The physical body was also composed of space, air, fire, water, and earth elements. It was held together by energy, which was in the final analysis, sun dependant.  The physical body resulted in perception of ‘separateness’ in time and space; and it had an expiry date in time and space. Wisely, these Masters chose to identify themselves with the subtler, more permanent parts of themselves rather than the evanescent body which was subject to decay and death.
They nevertheless recognized that the value of the body; for it provided a physical vehicle for existence in the physical plane. Thanks to their ability to tap into the omniscient supreme intelligence vestiture, meditatively, and tap into all knowledge telepathically, even without modern day electron microscopes etc, the Siddhars demonstrate an amazing scientific understanding of the human body, health and wellness, besides knowing much more than modern doctors about the secrets of anti-ageing and longevity. They also researched ways of making the physical body last longer in a healthy state for much longer than modern man is able to. Like the Masters in the Old Testament, the ancient Siddhars seem to have had physical lives lasting centuries and millennia.
From the medical point of view, the ability to tap into the omniscient supreme intelligence vestiture, enabled them develop the most scientific methods of history taking, physical examination, diagnostic testing, diagnosing methodology, pharmacopeia, and even surgery 10,000 years ago.(CCRAS 2008). By the same process, the ancient Siddhars tapped and received knowledge about the healing properties of herbs, and various other therapies such as varmam etc. Practically, in the course of treating patients, ancient Siddha physicians used to advantage the ability to tap into the omniscience vestiture of Consciousness. Through deep meditation, they sought intuitive guidance from supreme intelligence within, to choose lines of therapy.

Concept of Love-Bliss Vestiture:
By focused intention, a mind could be trained to go beyond the supreme intelligence omniscience vestiture, to the vestiture of love-bliss.  The final envelope of love-bliss was again a singularity-( the bliss body). One felt overwhelming love for all; as all was part of one. Compassion was second nature to these Masters. Sacrificing one’s body-mind for others needed no second thought. All the great Masters of mankind are examples of this living in love. Once they reached this subtlest love-bliss body of existence, they had absolutely no attachment to their own physical vestitures which fuelled the false separate identity. The physical vestiture was clearly given only the importance given to, say, a car, in modern times.It was a vehicle to get about in the physical world.
The love-bliss envelope of Consciousness represented omnipotence. Modern medicine also attests to the supreme, as yet untapped power of love-bliss.  Love is all powerful as world famous cardiologist Dean Ornish writes, "I am not aware of any other factor in medicine that has a greater impact on our survival than the healing power of love and intimacy. Not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery. Being loved and cared for, itself is the most therapeutic energy…… and the contrary is true too; people who feel lonely and isolated, have a 300 to 500 percent greater risk of premature death from physical illness". (60)The ancient physicians who could tap into the omnipotence aspect of Consciousness, ie,  love-bliss envelope,  found that they could become healers just through the power of love. This explains how the great Masters like Buddha, Jesus, and saints of the various religious traditions, who were literally embodiments of this absolute pure, selfless love,  could heal people with just a touch or glance. The original Siddha physicians like Agastyar, Boganathar, Thirumoolar and so on had such love and compassion which itself conferred the ability to heal, on them.
 To the Siddha physicians, therefore, the ability to heal spontaneously, was another ‘Siddhi’; that could be attained through deep meditation. The fact that it is in truth the omnipotence aspect of Consciousness that truly heals a patient was taught to Siddha students. Hence, as a rule, Siddha physicians were taught to offer, humble, sincere, loving prayers to universal Consciousness to heal the patient and only then was any kind of treatment, begun. . The patient was also urged to pray and then consume the medicines. It was very clear to both the healers and patients- it was Consciousness that healed; the physician or surgeon only treated.
Due to their identification with fellow beings and their intense compassion, like the Bodhisattwas, the great Siddhas chose to go into meditative ‘jeeva samadhi’ and continue to exist in the subtle. To this day the Great Siddhars are believed to be in the earthly sphere to help fellow beings. . Indeed as modern day Professor of Siddha Medicine, Dr JP Narayanan says, “The Great Siddhar Physicians are living Gods who continue to exist even now and help through their Siddhis, troubled human beings who seek their help for challenges that affect their well being”

Concept of the Self:
Even beyond the love-bliss vestiture, said the meditative Masters of India, was the Self, or Consciousness. It was beyond description and eternal over time and present everywhere over space and unchanging over time and space. As it was changeless over time and space, it qualified to be called the ‘Truth’; as by definition, truth is what remains changeless over time and space. The concept that Consciousness was ‘Truth’ arose thus. You and I are in reality part of that one truth or Consciousness, they declared; separate existence as a body was an illusion, they said. ‘The truth will set you free’, is an echo of this momentous finding! Quantum physicists say much the same thing; all matter is energy and energy exists as possibility waves until an observer effect collapses then into particulate matter. All things- including this solid world or or solid bodies- are really no-thing declare the quantum scientists, echoing the ancient Masters.
In the words of modern master, Ingvar Villido,  a  Siddhar is defined as “one who has progressed from the standard liberation (jivan mukti) to ultimate liberty with complete control over death (para mukti).” This state is also referred to as soruba mukti or soruba Samadhi( Swarupa Samadhi in Sanskrit). “  The 18 great Siddha physicians were  saints who had  whole mastery of their consciousness, and who realized its hidden qualities,  manifested as super-powers, or siddhis, on the mental, vital, and physical levels.  True masters of yoga, as a result of their practice, they attain perfection and uninterrupted identity with the Source, or the Primordial consciousness, while continuing their most ordinary life and activities.” The original Siddha physicians were such Master Yogis.  Besides the regular ‘Siddhis’ they also are said to have the power of converting their mass to energy and thereby travelling to different universes. (61)(62)
Interestingly, the founder of the over 25 years old C-SETI the Centre for Study of Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, Dr Steven Greer states that this is exactly how Extra Terrestrials from other galaxies with civilisations aeons more advanced than ours, travel across space to planet earth. (58) They were also experts on the use of portals that enable instantaneous transport across galaxies, as revealed by recent NASA studies. The science of temple building mastered by the Siddhas, seems to have incorporated the creation of portals. Many Indian temples today have been claimed to be portals.(50)

Knowledge Siddhars had,of the process of death:
The Siddhars were also adepts at the dimensions of existence and could exist in the physical and non physical dimensions for as long as they desired. They were in that sense, ‘immortal’. According to researcher, C Shanmuganayagam of SriLanka, they were adepts in controlling the process of ‘death’. As opposed to modern man who is fairly helpless when faced with the dying process, like the Yogis and Tibetan Masters, they could consciously control their exit from the physical.
Their understanding of the process of death itself was far beyond that of modern day medicine. They viewed death as the disengagement of the energy body from the foodbody leading to destruction of the food body while the ‘personality’, ie, the mindbody, wisdom body bliss body and beyond description and understanding Athman, survived death. The physical body is just the ‘Hardware’; an accumulation of food; Vedas call it the ‘Food Body’ (Annamaya Kosha). The ‘Software’ is far more important;–  the memory was one important software. Memory was not just immediate, short term and long term, as taught in medical school. The ancients spoke of  past life memory, ancestral memory, species specific memory, evolutionary memory  etc. What modern science is yet to understand is that the software survives our physical death!
 But even hardware and software is not enough for a computer to work. One needs a power source or energy. That in the case of the human body, is the ‘Prana’. The ancients had far more knowledge about the process of death than modern doctors. Addressing the Conference of Orthopedic Surgeons, at  their request, Sadhguru of Isha explained thus.(63) At death the ‘Prana’ leaves. The “Prana’ is closely connected to the breath and to the mind which is in the ultimate analysis, a bundle of thoughts. Breathing and thinking stops- signifying exit of ‘Prana’.
 However there are five subtypes of ‘Prana’; they are Prana, Samana, Apana, Udana and Vyana. Samana energy keeps the body warm; with stoppage of the boy’s thermostat and circulation, the body becoming cold at death pointing  to loss of Samana vayu
 Apana refers to perception of sensations which leaves next; the body’s electrical nervous system stops; the flat EEG is due to loss of Apaana Vayu
Udana refers to the buoyancy we feel while alive and when that leaves the body is dead and heavy like a log of wood.
Finally Vyana, which keeps the body fresh leaves; and it begins to rot. Loss of freshness and decomposing of tissues is due to loss of Vyana vayu
. So at death the person becomes disembodied; the power source disengages rendering the hardware nonfunctional. The software or ‘mind body’ and other subtler bodies and the Athman exist in a disembodied state.
Modern man is at a total loss at death for the only instrument of intelligence he has used while alive, is his brain; and that is gone at death.
The Siddhars however through Yoga consciously trained the conscious mind to go inward into the higher intelligence that pervades every cell of the body-  the Wisdom body. We must all agree that the intelligence that keeps the body systems and cells going without our conscious awareness is infinitely more than the intelligence of our puny minds. A mind body trained to access the infinite intelligence of the wisdom body, has no problems at death. It happily lives on in a more expansive unbounded realm.
Death- or the loss of the physical body however did not worry the Siddhars for through Yoga they had learnt to consciously control their Mind bodies and move on to continue life in the wisdom and bliss bodies and the imperishable Athman.
The secret was the correct use of the mind body.
Firstly, to move away from identification with name and form; to move away from ego and separateness ideas which foster only body survival instincts.
Secondly, to train the Mind body to move on to an expansive self view. This enabled it in some manner to access
a)-  the omniscience of the wisdom body,
b)- the omnipotence of selfless love and of a heart led Bliss body
c)- and move on to omnipresence since time and space restrict only the physical.

Concept of Yoga & Meditation:
Yoga was all about training the Food body, the Energy body and Mind body right. Good health was a natural corollary.
All the Siddha Masters were adept at Yoga which involved primarily
1-       mastery over body movements and flexibility
2-       understanding the continuity of life and law of action and reaction and therefore  training the Mind body right; abiding by right conduct; right thinking, emotions, words and actions
3-       The science of breathing; breath is linked to the Energy body.
The Tirumandiram by Siddhar Tirumoolar is being researched and used to improve health among Alzheimers patients, the elderly and others in the USA today. (64)

      4-.going inward with emphasis on meditation and understanding of energy vortices(Chakras), and breathing techniques . Meditative techniques endowed the Siddha practitioners with uncanny intuition. I must point out that modern doctors like Dr Steven Greer have pointed out the value of regular meditation as it improves intuition when it comes to diagnosis and it can indeed help save lives.(65) In the past two decades modern medicine has begun to understand at least a little bit about the value of meditation, which the ancient Siddhas knew over 10,000 years ago.  A recent comprehensive book titled, ‘TOWARDS EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH CARE- a human values based perspective with practical guidelines”, traces the history of research on meditative practices by western scientists as follows:
 Since the late seventies interest in meditation as a tool for stress reduction has interested Western doctors. In 1979, an MIT-trained molecular biologist, Jon Kabat-Zinn, decided “to turn a transformative meditation retreat experience into a field of study”. Kabat-Zinn worked with the Department of Medicine and the hospital administration at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Medical Center. He created a revolutionary new program called, “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)” that helped in  a number chronic health conditions and particularly chronic pain. When Kabat-Zinn’s first research article on mindfulness and the treatment of pain came out in 1982 the results grabbed attention across the medical world.
Similar positive results were posted by others too. Down under in Australia, Dr.Meares treated terminally ill cancer patients with these simple Eastern methods and to everyone’s amazement they lived much longer than their oncologists expected them to! Conservative Oncologists did not pay much attention to the findings of Dr.Meares. In the USA, conventional Oncosurgeon Dr.Spiegel, used to get irritated as his name used to be confused with that of Dr.Bernie Siegel, who believed in “new-fangled ideas such as love heals”. To disprove such notions Spiegel started a prospective study where post-surgery patients were randomly allotted to just conventional treatment or conventional treatment plus group therapy, prayer and the like. Five years down the line when the results were studied, Spiegel says, he almost fell out of his chair for the patients who received group therapy and participated in prayers and the like had a 50% higher survival rate!
Today, even Oncologists acknowledge research findings that show that meditation causes changes at the cellular level that can prevent cancer recurrence. A 2015 issue of the highly  respected journal CANCER, carries results of a breakthrough Canadian study conducted by researchers at the University of Calgary, (Alberta) and Alberta Health services concluded that meditation may be a powerful complement to treatment plans aimed at altering the cellular activity of cancer survivors.
The study, was one of the first to suggest scientifically, that a mind-body connection does exist. The study included 88 breast cancer survivors who, after they completed treatments for at least three months, met weekly for 12 weeks of mindfulness-based activities. The participants attended group discussions along with meditation and Yoga sessions and committed to practicing meditation and Yoga at home for 45 minutes daily.
Following the study of this group, researchers found that the telomeres that determine how quickly a cell ages – stayed the same length in cancer survivors who meditated or took part in support groups over the three-month period.  On the other hand, the telomeres of a control group of cancer survivors who didn’t participate in these groups, shortened during the three-month study. Shortened telomeres are associated with several disease states, as well as cell aging, while longer telomeres are thought to be protective against disease.
What excited researchers most, was that they were able to demonstrate over a relatively short period of time, that a consistent mindfulness practice could influence cell behavior in such a potentially powerful way. In fact, today, Roswell Park Cancer Centre, Sloan Kettering and other leading centres offer MBSR to their patients to improve quality of life and prevent recurrence of cancer. Besides cancer,  MBSR benefits have been reported in an array of clinical conditions such as  depression,  recovery after brain injury, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, diabetes, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome, post-organ transplantation, Parkinson’s disease and so on. An interesting Italian study correlated measurable increase in brain grey matter, and improvement in distressing psychological parameters with mindful meditation even in the short term! The paper states,Here we analyzed several morphometric indexes at both cortical and subcortical brain level, as well as multiple psychological dimensions, before and after a brief -8 weeks- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training program, in a group of 23 meditation naïve-subjects compared to age-gender matched subjects. We found a significant cortical thickness increase in the right insula and the somatosensory cortex of MBSR trainees, coupled with a significant reduction of several psychological indices related to worry, state anxiety, depression and alexithymia. Most importantly, an interesting correlation between the increase in right insula thickness and the decrease in alexithymia levels during the MBSR training were observed.” .
A Roswell Cancer Centre website write up states, “More than 3,000 scientific studies have been conducted on the benefits of meditation, and include positive outcomes for the treatment of depression, anxiety, lack of concentration, high blood pressure, inflammatory disorders, asthma, PMS, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia and more.”  .
In 2009 the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a study examining the effects of a year-long course for primary care physicians on mindfulness, that ability to be in the zone and present in the moment purposefully and without judgment. According to Dr.Krasner, lead author and a teacher of Medicine at the University of Rochester, seventy physicians enrolled and participated in the four components of the course — mindfulness meditation; writing sessions; discussions; and lectures on topics like managing conflict, setting boundaries and self-care.)
The effects of the sessions were dramatic. The participating doctors became more mindful, less burned out and less emotionally exhausted. But two additional findings surprised the investigators. Several of the improvements persisted even after the yearlong course ended. And, those changes correlated with a significant increase in attributes that contribute to patient-centered care, such as empathy and valuing the psychosocial factors that might affect a patient’s illness experience.” (50) To sum up, training in mindfulness and meditation sensitizes doctors to be more empathetic and mindful of the psychosocial factors that could affect a patient’s illness.
The writing on the wall is very clear; we would do well to follow in the footsteps of ancient Siddha physicians like Agastyra and Thirumoolar and make meditation an integral part of the medical syllabus, for it will perhaps do good for the health of both doctors and patients. That there will be little backing for such a move from big pharma and insurance companies as there is no money to be made, is sure to be one challenge.  That it is not likely to be welcomed by the physicality based medical establishment, entrenched in Newtonian physics, augurs to be another challenge.  A total paradigm shift in perception to a quantum view; to recognising the importance of non pharmacological methods in both preventive medicine and therapeutics is necessary. Only then will there be a willingness to explore and invest in non pharmacological methods such as meditation, by makers of medical syllabi and health care policy. Doctors will have to patiently wait for more evidence based medical proof to build up.”


Modern evidence of brain changes with meditation:
Sara Lazar, who began as a sceptic, but is now a long time meditator, is a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She was one of the first scientists to take the anecdotal claims about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness and test them in brain scans. “What she found surprised her — that meditating can literally change your brain.”, says the Washington Post. Lazar says they found differences in brain volume after eight weeks in five different regions in the brains of the two groups.
In the group that learned meditation, they found thickening in four regions:
1. The primary difference, we found in the posterior cingulate, which is involved in mind wandering, and self relevance.
2. The left hippocampus, which assists in learning, cognition, memory and emotional regulation.
3.  The temporo parietal junction, or TPJ, which is associated with perspective taking, empathy and compassion.
4. An area of the brain stem called the Pons, where a lot of regulatory neurotransmitters are produced.
The amygdala, the fight or flight part of the brain which is important for anxiety, fear and stress in general. That area got smaller in the group that went through the mindfulness-based stress reduction program.
The change in the amygdala was also correlated to a reduction in stress levels.

Progressing from Siddha Physicians to full fledged Siddhars:
Meditation was an integral part of training of Siddha physicians. It led to their mastering Siddhis and reaching a state of equanimity ready to sacrifice worldly pursuits for the well being of fellowmen.
 Ultimately some who started as Siddha physicians became full fledged Siddhars ( spiritual Masters) who realised the ephemeral nature of the world and chose to live on beyond the embodied state by taking ‘Samadhi’. Interestingly, in the course of research ito the history and traditional practices of the Siddha system of medicine, I came across on young ( 1993 born) Siddha physician, Dr Siva, from a traditional family Siddha physicians,  trained in a modern Siddha medicine college, who nevertheless had been meditatively connecting to Great Siddha Agastya from childhood. While he practices Siddha medicine his real interest now is to move on from being a Siddha physician to being a Realised Siddhar. 
This mastery of existence in all dimensions and thereby becoming ‘immortal’ as it were,  is possibly their greatest contribution. It deserves to be studied in depth and presented.  This paper will restrict itself  to the medical contributions and practices of the Siddha system of medicine perfected many millennia before any other system of medicine of this age.
When did they walk the earth?  The National Institute of Siddha. Medicine states,”  (54)The Siddha System of Medicine (Traditional Tamil System of medicine), which has been prevalent in the ancient Tamil land, is the foremost of all other medical systems in the world. Its origin goes back to B.C 10,000 to B.C 4,000. The Siddha system of medicine is said to have emerged in antiquity, from the highly evolved consciousness of the Siddhars. (54)

 Concept of guidance from Siddhars in Samadhi while treating patients:
 Interestingly, even in the present day, some Siddha physicians, who are adept in meditation, are guided by these ancient Master Siddhars.  Some modern day Siddhars consider one of the Great Siddhars of yore, as their Guru and God. Through meditation, they are able to trans-dimensionally seek the help of the Great Siddhars and achieve many otherwise impossible cures for the patients who go to them in trust. Contemporary Siddha physicians trained in the traditional manner who believe in trans-dimensionally connecting with the Great Siddhars in meditation, find their abilities improve and gain therapeutic guidance from the Masters by meditating at the ‘Jeeva Samadhis’; the Great Siddhars are believed to exist possibly in a state similar to sustended animation at ‘energy centres’  in subterraenean vaults called ‘Jeeva Samadhis’; and at these ‘energy centres’ it is apparently easier to connect with them, and receive their blessings / solutions to problems and so on. (66) (67) Meditation improves intuition and the Siddha Physician who takes to the practice is able to better diagnose problems and choose lines of treatment. Modern science has discovered many benefits of meditation from improving intuition to helping in stress reduction to preventing heart disease.(68) (69)(70) 
 The internet is replete with examples of cures effected for trusting patients by Siddha physicians who consider Agastyar as their omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient Guru and meditatively seek Agastyar’s help in healing the patient. It seems unbelievable to matter based modern medical men; but in terms of quantum physics and quantum mechanics, such cures worked out by the process of entanglement, are very much possible.

Logical Tenets followed by the Siddha System of Medicine(SSM):
From the perspective of modern medicine, let us see whether the ancient system of siddha medicine followed the logical tenets followed by modern medicine. Modern medical doctors will be astounded to know that, even 10,000 years ago, Siddha physicians demonstrated an amazing scientific understanding of the human body, health and wellness, besides knowing much more than modern doctors about the secrets of anti-ageing and longevity. They also had the most scientific methods of history taking, physical examination, diagnostic testing, diagnosing methodology, pharmacopeia, and even surgery millennia ago.

 SSM on Anatomy and Physiology:
Palm leaf manuscripts reveal how the ancient Siddhars viewed the human body.(71)
Palm leaf texts talks of ‘ooneer’ ie plasma. Ooneer (plasma) responsible for growth, development and nourishment. Modern medicine found out details about plasma only in the nineteenth century.
 Ancient Siddha physicians spoke of’ cheneer’ (the red liquid, ie, blood) responsible for nourishing muscles, imparting colour and improving intellect. Western medicine discovered red blood cells only recently! Red cells were first described in the 17th century,
Thirdly they spoke of  ‘oon’ (muscle) responsible for shape of the body.
 Fourthly even millennia ago they recognised  ‘koluppu / Kozhuppu’ (fatty tissue) responsible for oil balance and lubricating joints.
 Fifthly they spoke of  ‘elumbu’ (bone) responsible for body structure and posture and movement.
 Sixthly, even millennia ago they knew that ‘elumbu majjai’ (bone marrow), was responsible for formation of blood corpuscles. In fact this the ancient Siddhars, knew over ten thousand years ago! A detailed article on the western understanding of the role of the marrow from antiquity to Osler’s time, by Barrow, says that some clear understanding of the role of bone narrow was only first experimentally defined during the latter 19th century. Hippocrates (460–375 bc), who used observation and reasoning rather than mysticism to reach his conclusions, considered the marrow the nutrient source for bone, an opinion shared by Galen (130–200). Aristotle (384–322 bc) took the opposite view and considered the marrow to be an osseous waste product (excrementum ossium). Finally, western medicine realised the connection between bone marrow and blood corpuscles only two centuries ago!      
 Seventh, they mention that ‘sukkilam’ (semen), is responsible for reproduction.
In the case of modern western medicine, Hippocrates and his colleagues are credited with declaring that the practice of medicine had a rational basis and for outlining a proper professional role for physicians in society, and for laying down some basic rules to be followed by physicians. In contrast, millennia ago, the Siddha system of medicine had clear rational basis. They also had a code of ethics that is strikingly similar to the code of ethics propogated millennia later by Hippocrates. In modern western medicine, only over the past 400 years or so, did a proper technique of physical examination, diagnostic tests and so on evolve.According to Walker, “ Hippocrates and his colleagues laid the foundations by establishing medicine as a profession and by declaring that it has a rational basis. The second development was the resumption of the dissection of human bodies for educational purposes, beginning in the thirteenth century in Italy. Vesalius was thereby able to publish an accurate human anatomy text in 1543, and Morgagni to establish morbid anatomy, or pathology, as a discipline in 1761. The third development was Sydenham's definition of disease between 1666 and 1683, leading to the nosological concept of disease. The actual beginnings of physical diagnosis occurred with the discovery of percussion by Auenbrugger in 1760, and its dissemination by Corvisart in 1808.” (72) However the ancient Siddha system laid a rational basis to the practice of medicine and had a thorough system of physical examination and investigative tests, millennia ago.

 Physical Examination techniques and Investigations used by SSM:
Pulse reading, (Tamil: Naadi - Vatha, Pitha and Kabha)
(Pulse examination is also the most prominent diagnostic procedure in SSM. In other words, it performs the job of present day inventions like the stethoscope and sphygmomanometers (Wujastyk, 1995).
Examination of eyes, (Tamil: ‘Kangal’)
Study of voice, (Tamil: ‘Mozhi – Kural’)
Color of body, (Tamil: ‘Niram’)
Examination of the tongue (Tamil: ‘Naa’) and
Status of the sensation of human body (Tamil: ‘Sparisum’).

INVESTIGATIONS:
Urine examination, (Tamil: ‘Neer kuri & Neikuri’)
Stool Examination, (Tamil: ‘Malam’)
Examination of the urine was done almost in as much detail as in modern medicine today;Urine- Examination was a major diagnostic method.
 The color
 smell,
density,
quantity and
froth
of urine wre noted.
In addition, surface tension is studied. (Tamil: Neerkuri ) 
The pattern of gingelly oil (Tamil: Nallennai) spreading on the surface of the urine also provide valuable information in diagnosing the diseases (Krishnamurthy and Chandramouli,1984; Saroja and Veluchamy, 1983).

Meditative methods of investigation and deciding on treatment modalities, in SSM::
In addition to the above, as meditative practices were used to access the supreme intelligence vestiture to intuitively help understand what exactly was the diagnosis and what line of treatment would help. In modern times some Siddha physicians with expertise in meditative techniques, who have total faith in the Great Siddhars of yore, meditatively seek the counsel of the Great Siddhars when ever they need help with a patient. For example, in the course of research in this area I had the opportunity to meet and interview 1993 born young Siddha physician, Dr Siva, who meditatively accesses the Great Siddhar Agastyar and is able to help many patients. Through meditation and dreams Siva has been taught about various herbs and their uses by Agastyar. His Professors at the Siddha Medical College where he trained, since they knew he had access to Agastyar, often went to him to clarify their own knowledge.
That the treating Siddha physician has access to a Great Siddhar, gives the patient and the treating physician far more confidence and the expectation to get better would obviously be the much higher. The success rates of treatment are bound to be helped by such positive expectation, not to mention the effect of grace of the Great Siddhars prayed to.
Though intuition has no place in modern medical diagnostics, individual doctors in the modern medical tradition will neverthles testify to the effectiveness of meditative insights and a sharpened intuition in guiding one to the correct diagnosis. Dr Steven Greer, a former Chairman of Emergency Medicine and head of the Centre for study of Extra Terrestrial intelligence for over 25 years will testify to this . This author also can testify to it. But in general, this is one area that modern scientific medicine sorely lacks experience or studies in.. It is heartening though, individual physicians, of late, are employing positive thinking, yoga, meditation and prayer in their medical practice, though modern medical education in and main stream modern medicine, that is totally matter based, is yet to have an open mind on this subtle dimension.

SSM concepts of Health and Wellness :
According to Siddhas matter and energy are the two interconvertible entities, which have great influence in shaping the nature of the universe. They are called Siva and Sakthi in the siddha system. Matter cannot exist without energy and vice-versa. Thus both are inseparable (Narayanaswamy, 1975)
The Siddha system of medicine considered man as the microcosm and the universe, as the macrocosm. It is believed by many historians that Grantha, the more ancient script was the  ancestor script for Tamil and Sanskrit. Since Devanagari also shares Grantha as the ancestor script, there is a tendency for people to assume that Siddha system and Ayurveda are the same; only expressed in different languages. But this is a very superficial approach.  Both are products of the Indian subcontinent but the two are distinct systems of healing with distinct identities. They are very different in their very approach.
 The great Acharyas of Ayurveda, Susruta and Charaka were grounded to the three dimensional world in their practice of medicine and surgery. The Siddha System of Medicine, besides using logical methods employable in the three dimensional world, seems to have researched and discovered meditative methods that helped them connect to the Great Siddhars in other dimensions. Thus using knowledge from other dimensions accessed by transdimensional techniques to decide on diagnosis and therapy in difficult cases appears to be an established practice in the traditional Siddha System of Medicine.  Traditional Siddha physicians to this day use meditative insights gained at Jeeva Samadhis of the Great Siddhars; a practice exclusive to Siddha System of Medicine. Using transdimensional competence to diagnose and treat diseases is a unique Siddha practice.
 In the present time, however, a deplorable tendency is the attempt to reduce this grand ancient system grounded in quantum mechanics to a ‘poor relationn’ of Modern Medicine which is grounded in Newtonian physicality. Like Modern Medical education, Siddha Medicine ‘graduates’ receive five years of training but the soul of the Siddha System of Medicine, ie  meditation and transdimensional competence is unfortunately not taught. So young Siddha System of Medicine graduates churned out today, unfortunately do not get the training or exposure to these transdimensional access techniques. Training in Siddha System of Medicine has a lot to gain if it includes the age old teachings of meditation, yoga and the development of faculties of intuition and so on by going inward, as the andcient Siddha physicians did.
Because of the Siddhis attained by them due to their high attainments in the inward path, we have empirical evidence today, as we shall see, for the existence of the Great Siddhars. Siddhars like  Agastyar are accessed even today by practicing Siddha physicians who have trained themselves to have transdimensional competence. Siddha lore says there were great Siddhar physicians preceding Agastyar too; like Roma Rishi, Kaka Bhujandar and others. In fact the Siddha System traces its origin to Siva, venerated in temples as Marundeeswaran- the Great Healer and Lord of Medicine. In fact if one goes by all the ancient texts written by various Siddhars, Siva is universally acknowledged as the first Siddha physician.
Since we do not have evidence based knowledge of the time period when Siva walked the earth, this article takes up the history of Siddhar Agastyar, who , as palm leaf manuscripts state, set up an institution for the Siddha System of Medicine at PothigaiMalai as we shall see later. However, the truth is, that the antiquity of the system most likely, goes back to the even more remote past.
David Frawley, Vedic scholar, historian, linguist and critical evaluator of archaeological studies. says, “  I have proposed that Vedic culture originally derived from the South, from an older maritime culture that may have developed during the Ice Age. I would place that earlier culture throughout southeast Asia, of which Tamil Nadu was a part. This corresponds to the Kanya Kumari continent story of Tamil thought.
Is it possible that both Sanskrit and Tamil, two very distinct languages, are products of the same greater people or culture? As rishis are seers of cosmic sound, this cannot be rejected as a possibility; and Rishis like Agastyar contributed both to Tamil and Sanskrit. The two languages developed script from the Grantha script and are possibly more closely related than was earlier considered. Likewise the ancient systems of Siddha medicine and Ayurveda can also be considered brothers.”
To quote researcher, Saraf, “Siddha System of Medicine is as old as mankind and dominated the civilization of the southern peninsula of India.”(73)
Siddhas described seven basic tissues (Tamil: Sapthadathukkal, already described)
  The Siddhas identified Five primordial elements viz., (Tamil:Panchabhootham)
1)-earth (Tamil: Mann),
2)- water (Tamil: Neer),
3)-fire (Tamil: Thee),
4)-air (Tamil: Katru) and
5)-space (Tamil:Aahayam).
A suitable proportion of these five elements, in
combination with one another are responsible for the different structures and functions of the tissues ie ‘dathukkal’body matrix. This is known as the theory of “five-fold combination” (Tamil: Pancheekaranam)
(Uthamaroyan, 1983).

The Siddha system believed that energy needed for life, or the ‘Uyir’ or Life Force / Life Energy of a living man was the conglomeration of three energes or humours (Tamil: Three thodam/mukkutram)
By Vatham, Siddhas referred to ‘movement’ of body and mind; movement was essential for life. All motor and sesory activities of the nervous system, cardio vascular system and lungs were governed by ‘vatham’.
Pitham’ referred to the fire element or metabolic energy. Maintenance of body heat and homeostasis was dependent of ‘pitham’.
Kapham’ referred to elements of the body made of earth and water and was responsible for body build, strength, stamina, endurance ( ? immunity) and joint movements.
In modern medicine these would correspond to
1)- VATHAM = Nervous system, cardio vascular and pulmonary system
2)-PITHAM = Metabolism and homeostasis and functions of musculoskeletal system
3) KAPHAM= Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue including blood and lymphatic systems.
According to the Siddha system of medicine,to be in a state of equilibrium / health, they had to be active in the right proportion. Vatham had to be four times as active as kapham and twice as active as pitham.
(CSIR–AYUSH, 2012);

Pillars of heath as per SSM:
To maintain this healthy life balance, Siddhas gave great importance to four parameters.
1)- Diet-  food itself is medicine was the adage; Unavey Marundu in Tamil.
2)- Exercise
3)- Moral / Right living so that stress was avoided
4)- Having a right Routine for activities of daily life
The day was divided into 4 parts of 4 hours.
4am to 8am for rejuvenation of the body and mind; for meditation and exercise
8am to 12 noon and 12 noon to 4pm for worldly work with a short break for light food and offer gratitude to God
4pm to 8pm again for de-stressing, prayers, singing, meditation
8pm to 4am for sleep and rest.

Medical Ethics in SSM:
 The ancient Siddhars were truly the founders of Ethical Medicine. A slide show by Siddha Medicine students compares the Siddha Ethical code with Hippocratic code. (74) Theraiyar’s view.

  The first part of the oath taken by both Siddha physicians upon graduating, and the Hippocratic oath refer to faith in God, the Real Healer; Shiva and others in the Siddha system and Apollo and others in the Greek system. When going through both Hippocrates oath and Siddha literatures, one can find the following similarities:
  1. Respect for Teachers
  2. Pledging life to the service of patients
  3. Placing Patient’s interest before his own.
  4. Protecting Patient from harm & injustice.
  5. Respecting Patient’s right to make decisions.
  6. Improving the care for Patient’s wellbeing.
  7. Not to become intimate with Patients.
  8. Trying to Prevent as well as cure disease.
  9. Protecting Patient’s confidentiality.
  10. Imparting Medical knowledge to others.

The Siddha system follows the principles of modern medicine to a T! It logically and scrupulously states, “At first a Physician should completely examine the patient. After diagnosing, he must prescribe them with right medications. The Siddha system treatment regimen, even 10,000 years ago,  followed the modern medical principles of using the simplernon invasive  treatments first and going on to surgery and invasive treatments only if non invasive methods do not work or if invasive methods are absolutely indicated; for example, it states,
  1. To start with Herbal products (extract or Powder form of root, leaf or the whole plant).
  2. When not responding, switch over to Metal & Mineral formulations.
  3. Finally to Aruvai Maruthuvam (Essentials of Surgery)
  4. He should not have any bias and conflict of interest when planning the treatment regimen.”(74)
The Siddha system, even 10,000 years ago, laid special emphasis on non commercialization of treatment regime and non commercialization of the medical profession.(74)
The selection of medical students, further had to be by eligibility criteria and not by economic or such wrong considerations.(74)
Guru sishya parampara being the ideal way of learning.(74) Today, millennia later, we are rediscovering this truth.  Research into the ‘informal curriculum’ and ‘hidden curriculum’  only underscores the significant influence of teachers on students and the importance of having the right role models.
 In Siddha system of medicine a physician should be spiritual and have an in-depth knowledge. Agasthiyar Sillaraikkovai further adds generosity, patience, untiring hard work, capability of overcoming greed, anger, knowledge about astrology and numerology as the qualities of a physician. He says that a physician should protect his patient like an eyelid, which protects the eyes and care as a mother who cares for her sick child.
A physician should not wear colorful dress, nor use silk, leather rope, cosmetics and should always move around in white dress, using only sandal paste as cosmetics. Theraiyar in his Thylavarka churukkam insists that “a physician should clean his hands many times and have bath after examining a patient.”

SSM spoke of Hand Washing Millennia ago:
Moving on to basic principles of hygiene and therapy, we find that millennia before modern medicine knew the value of hand washing, the Siddhars were practicing it. The concept of HAND WASHING for ASEPSIS, was introduced into western medicine only two centuries ago,(75) but it was was well known to the Siddhas millennia ago!

Possibly the earliest ever Medical College:
It is appropriate to study the historical elements of how Siddha System of Medicine was set up. (76). Late Dr Mandayamkumar’s lifetime work was searching out ancient palm leaf manuscripts and collating information about the ancient Siddha System of Medicine and the ancient Siddhars. He writes and I quote him,
“ Under the guidance of Muruga ( worshipped as a deity today), a Hospital and Research  Institution was formed near the main waterfalls at Courtalam adjacent to the Temple. The institution was started with the help of the great philosopher-scientist of China, the well-known Bhogar, and an eminent scholar from Malaysia by name Nandi Devar (subsequently named as Theraiyar). Besides, Yugimuni, Pulappani, Pambatti Siddhar, Pulasthya and Kappiyan also joined them. With the help of these scholars, Sage Agastyar conducted a conference at Courtalam and founded this hospital and research institute, known as Thorana Malai Institute for the propagation of medical science. In commemoration of this conference of eminent Siddhas, the year has been named as SidhaarthiSamvatsara, the 53rd year of Kali Yuga ie 5805 years ago.”

SSM- Ancient Medical School Curriculum:
At Thorana Malai Research Institute, provision was made for teaching students from different parts of the world in five distinctive subjects in a systematic manner. To quote Dr Mandayamkumar,
 Firstly, they were taught philosophy to understand the relationship of soul and matter, the process of evolution and attainment of reality.
Secondly, they were trained in different branches of Yoga to attain perfection or Siddhi through the process of meditation.
 Thirdly, they were thoroughly taught Astronomy and Astrology, which are inter-related.
Fourthly, they were trained in alchemy, i.e. physical and chemical properties of elements.
The last subject to be taught was the Science of Medicine. With these they would be thorough in their diagnostic capacities through the Nadi system, i.e., pulse reading. The science of pulse reading is very subtle which would be understood only with the practice of Yoga and cannot be explained through texts.
Yoga and through Yoga, the mastery of continued existence in dimensions other than the physical:

Yoga:
This is one of the greatest contributions of Siddha System. Much of this knowledge was lost but from Agastyar’s time, ie 10,000 years ago, through various Siddhars, notably Agastyar’s  most famous disciple, Mahavatar Babaji, this greatest discovery of the Siddhas- ie, the key to immortality, has come down to 21st century man. As of today this knowledge and its practice is limited to Yogis of India and Tibet. The CIA and Defence dpartments of the USA have been studying it in secret for over half a century; but it is only in the past three or four decades that western medicine has woken up to the benefits of Yoga. Modern medicine is still only discovering the health benefits. The mastery over dimensions of existence, the science of longevity and immortality are yet to be taken up by modern medicine for it seems too unbelievable for modern doctors. However Yogis and contemporary practitioners of Siddha Medicine believe in this knowledge and some of them are able to access this knowledge, to the great benefit of patients.
Hence documenting this aspect of Siddha System of medicine becomes important, so that interested junior doctors can take it up for research.

Research:
Research was given pride of place in ancient SSM. Pulasthya and Kappiyan were in charge of recording the results of different research works conducted at the Thoranamalai institute. (76) (85)

Relationship of Yoga & Ethics:
The Great Siddha physicians were true yogis. Unlike ‘modern day yoga’ which in the west has mutated to mainly only stretching exercises, the Siddhars practiced yoga and achieved three objectives.
1)—they had control over breath,
2)- they had control of all passions and achieved the level of desirelessness –
3)- they had total control over the mind.
 The Great Siddhas  therefore maintained equanimity and a sense of equilibrium.
Agastyar was the foremost of the Great Siddha physicians; a many splendoured personality, he was the one who codified Siddha System of Medicine and as early as 5000 years ago, and set up a ‘Medical College’ along with other Siddhas in Thoranamalai in southern Tamilnadu.


Toxicology in Ancient SSM:
Quoting Dr Mandayam kumar:
At MarudaMalai near Coimbatore, Pambatti Siddhar took up research work on poisonous snakes for the utilization of the venom in the treatment of various diseases. It is mentioned that the poisonous snakes were made non-poisonous by feeding them with anti-poisonous chemicals. By such feeding, even the color of the snakes was changed. This brought about a reduction in the intensity of the poisonous nature of the venom to be used as medicine in the treatment of different diseases.

Parenteral Injections in Ancient SSM (RAJA VAIDYAM):.
 During the course of toxicology research, the administration of medicines through injections was also developed with the help of syringe and needle. Particular care was taken to design the needle. A special alloy of copper and gold was adopted in the manufacture of these needles. The mode of treatment through injections was considered as Raja Vaidya or king of treatments and it is stated that Chinese and Ethiopians widely used this art in their treatment.”
Injections were introduced into modern medicine only in the 17th century. “ Various people have been credited with the 'invention' of the syringe including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle and Pascal, and intravenous injection is recorded as early as the 17th century.
The first recorded injections:
Christopher Wren is the first person recorded to have employed intravenous injecting in Britain – injecting into a dog at Wadham College, Oxford, in 1656.”  ( 77)
The ancient physicians of India seem to have used injections millennia earlier!

Chemical Research in Ancient SSM:
I quote Dr Mandayam Kumar:
At this institute Bhogar took up research on medicines with chemicals, minerals, gems and salts. Under the guidance of Bhogar an institution was established at Thiruparukundram near Madurai for research on minerals, salts, chemicals, etc., converting them to Bhasmas and Sindhuras for easy assimilation with high potency. These Bhasmas and Sindhuras have high specific activity and are very effective in the treatment of chronic and acute diseases. Further the method of liquefying the metals and minerals was also developed here making them suitable for administering as injections. In addition, to find out the nature of toxicity and efficacy of these medicines that they were first tried on animals. For this purpose, an animal house was established at Pasumalai adjacent to Thiruparukundram. Thus it could be noted that the research work of Siddhars was a broad based one and had a systematic approach.”

Surgery in Ancient SSM:
Dr Mandayam Kumar continues,
”Nandi Devar (Theriyar)was the head of the department of surgery;
The surgical section attached to the hospital in ThoranaMalai was headed by Nandi Devar. At this place, the preliminary training in the art of surgery was given through a special species of frogs called Therai. Hence, the department head, Nandi Devar, was nicknamed as Theriyar – one who rears Therai frogs.
Surgery was divided into three types :-
Surgery of external organs
Minor surgery
Major surgery.”
It is amazing to read what they knew, allegedly, over 5000 years ago. To summarise:
The ancient Siddhars knew about HYGEINE and  DISINFECTION.
Ancient Siddhars knew about the  need for STERILISATION of INSTRUMENTS,
Ancient Siddhars used NATURAL SUTURING MATERIALS like banana stem fibre and silk.
Ancient Siddhars had methods of IMPROVING WOUND HEALING
Ancient Siddhars used ANAESTHESIA- both Local and General
Ancient Siddhars even EXPERIMENTED with TRANSPLANT SURGERY and PLASTIC SURGERY
Ancient Siddhars had developed PARENTERAL INJECTIONS
I quote Dr Mandayamkumar below
Separate units were establishes for each type with adequate instruments and accessories. Elaborate explanations are given about the method of surgery. Hygienic upkeep of the place, sterilization of instruments, different anesthetic preparations to suit the age of the patient and duration of surgery are adequately explained, besides giving various medicinal formulae for the quick healing of the surgical wound.
 It is mentioned that the thread taken out from the banana plant was used for the sutures in surgery. Special preparations used as local anesthesia are also explained in addition to disinfectants.
Transplantations of foetus on animals were also tried at Pasumalai bringing in several varieties of animals. They had even tried plastic surgery for wounded soldiers. Apart from treating the general public the hospital had the facility to treat wounded warriors with surgery. Replacement of limbs and organs were also taken up including brain and heart surgery.”(76) (85)

Herbal Medicine in Ancient SSM:
Dr Mandayam Kunar adds,
Yugi Muni was in charge of the herbarium and medicines produced therefrom. At ParadesiKundai on Courtalam hills, an institution was established with a herbarium attached to it under the able guidance of Yugi Muni. Even today, we can find an inscription in a symbolic form on a big boulder at that place. Botanical research was also taken up here, bringing about various high-breed varieties of plants, flowers, fruits, etc. Even silk cocoons with different colors were developed here by rearing the larvae with different chemicals as their food. The art of sericulture is elaborately explained in their records”
 Although the writings of Dr Mandayamkumar quoted above, mention the name, Yugimuni, along with the Thoranai Malai institution established by Agastyar and other Great Siddhars, the name Yugimuni comes up in a later period of history as well. He is considered  a student of Theraiyar who wrote the Theraiyar Thyla varga churrukama, which states that the physician should have pure thought and action, love for all human beings, a detailed knowledge about geographical seasonal variations, correct physical and mental state and dietary habits. Siddha literature mentions that Theraiyar may have lived around 1000 to 1500 AD.( Theraiyar Karisal-300 (தேரையர் கரிசல்-300) siddha medicine Ebook Download)
Siddhar Yugimuni, was a student of Theraiyar. Yugimuni was also a great clinician, according to Professor of Siddha Medicine Dr JP Narayanan. According to him Yugimuni had described in detail the types of abdominal swellings and had written an exhaustive treatise on diseases of the rectum and anal canal.

Pharmacopia in Ancient SSM:
The Siddha pharmacopeia was in ancient Tamil and recorded in palm leaf manuscripts. It included
Herbs
Metals
Chemicals
Animal products
Detailed descriptions of how they were to be prepared are described in palm leaf manuscripts.
Many palm leaf manuscripts are in the possession of families which by tradition practice Siddha medicine. We owe a great debt to a police officer, late Sambasivan Pillai, whose lifetime work has recorded for posterity the various kinds of medicines and therapies which were used by Siddha Physicians.

Physico-Energetic Medicine in Ancient SSM:
- Varmam (Tamil) /  Marmam ( Malayalam)
Varmam are vital points in the body that act as energy transformers or batteries. They form centres for boosting the vital life-force Uyir Sakthi or life-energy flow through the intricate nadi system of the body. Nature, by its design, has protected these vital centres by placing them deep inside the body or by covering them with tissues inaccessible to normal attempts of breach.
Varmam is a holistic therapy on its own and tackles the body, mind and spirit. A Varmam expert understands the underlying links between the body, vital life-energy and the mind.
Varmams have been classified based on the type of pressure needed; the energy points are activated by touch, tapping, fairly strong blows, massage, by licking and by just a Master staring with focus.
A Varmam therapist needs to have a deep knowledge about the body's nerves and physical structure to do an effective treatment. There are only a few therapists existing in this world, and the modern siddha world is trying to preserve this art of healing. We owe a great deal to Dr Pankaj Naram for re suscitating this ancient art of healing and for restoring it to its pristine glory; even in disaster relief the art of Varmam / Marmam is useful as the Huffington Post reports. (78)(79)
When the guru is a martial arts teacher, he is also known as an Aashaan. They make a diagnosis after a patient's visit and set about to refer to their manuscripts for the appropriate remedies, which a true blue physician compounds by himself or herself, from thousands of herbal and herbo-mineral resources. The methodology of Siddha thought has helped decipher many causes of disorders and the formulation of curious remedies which may sometimes have more than 250 ingredients.

Astrology in Ancient SSM:
Astrology has been given a prominent place in Siddha medical science. This earth and each living being therein are constantly influenced by the planets. Siddhars realised the relationship between the macro-cosm and micro-cosm.
They distinctly divided the organs of our body as belonging to different planets. Even the different parts of a single cell were classified according to planets.
 Hence, they promulgated that the onset and development of the disease and its cure mainly depended on the movements of the planets. With this knowledge, they were able to diagnose the disease by the study of planetary positions in addition to the physical symptoms.
 Even the mode of treatment and the type of medication were derived based on the position of the planets and their transits. Further, various chemicals, minerals, salts and even herbs are classified under different planets. Based on this knowledge, the compounding of medicines was being carried on for different diseases.

Longevity and Immortality Research in Ancient SSM:
The science of Siddha medicine is based mainly on the well-known philosophy of the eternity of soul over matter that is transistory. The main theme of Siddhas is to evolve the soul through this body to attain reality. For this, preservation of the body free from suffering and decay is important. So they evolved many medicinal preparations to conquer death, decay and disease.
 The special preparation being the elixir of life has been elaborately explained by each one of the Siddhars naming it as Amuri and Muppu. Amuri is a liquid that acts as a rejuvenator activating every cell and bringing it back to its normal activity. Muppu, a ‘cosmic salt’ is the life giver for every cell. The combination of these two would help to win over disease, decay and death and keep the body fit for the logic practice to attain the ultimate goal of ABSOLUTE REALITY.
They also had remedies for common garden health problems. Siddhars evolved a special type of medicinal compound which they used to administer for all types of diseases with varied vehicles according to the intensity of the disease. This particular compound  called ‘Kattu’ containsed refined metals and chemicals.

Worship of Deities and Divine Energetic Healing in Ancient SSM:
As a monument of this research marvel a unique figure made out of special chemical compounds has been carved in the shape of Muruga – the chief patron of their organization – and installed on the top of the hill at Palani for the purpose of worship. This idol is developed out of the Nava Pashana Kattu of the Siddhars. The offerings made to this idol through honey, rose water, sandalwood paste and sacred ash would get charged with particles of the chemical compositions of the idol. By consuming such an offering as Prasadam it is believed that the devotees  get relieved of their ailments – both physical and mental.

 Patient based specialisations in ancient SSM:
In modern parlance Siddha System of Medicine had the following specialities too.
Paediatrics
Ophthalmology
Marmam treatment for musculosleletal, connective tissue and autoimmune diseases
Puttrunoi- Cancer treatment
Diabetes treatment etc.
Successful Marmam treatment for many chronic disorders has astonished Western patients and doctors alike.

Proposed that the ancient SSM was the basis for other systems of healing:
As the Siddha system of medicine is possibly the oldest system of medicine in this cycle of time, naturally, it seems to be the forefather of many systems of medicine.
Yunani: The use of chemicals and metals was a Siddha concept and Yunani medicine continued in that line
Reiki & Pranic Healing: The ‘energy treatments’ were possibly the basis for Pranic healing and Reiki.
Yoga:  Yoga was an integral part of Siddha; the Siddhas were adept at all the steps of Yoga, having learnt it from the Adi Yogi ie first Yogi, Shiva himself.
Modern Medicine: In my humble opinion, there is a good possibility that Hippocrates and his students were influenced by the thought process  of the Siddhas and thus SSM was very likely the ancestor of Modern Medicine. It is remarkable that there are some very curious coincidences between the doctrines of the former and those of the latter.
Evidence: The hard evidence for this comes from the meticulous records maintained on palm leaves. Dr Mandayamkumar translated the following timeline records:
Timeline wise, Kali Yuga began in 3100BC ie 5000 years ago.
At Mahadeva Giri. Sage Dhashina Murthi revived the knowledge of the Vedas and instructed these sages to propagate this knowledge at the appropriate manner and time for the benefit of humanity.This imparting of this knowledge was said to have taken place on the 21st day of the Tamil month of Kartigai, during the eleventh year, Eswara Samvatsara,of Kali Yuga, ie . ie 3089 BC. Agathiyar( Agastyar) gave much importance to this day.
Thus 5100 years ago, the sages recorded their knowledge on palm leaves after extensive discussions held in Alagan Kulam and presented them to Dhashina Murthi for his perusal.This included the 64 kinds of learning, 18 Puranas, 96 Tatvas,and 48 branches of scientific knowledge including the principles of Siddha medicine. The entire literature in Tamil came to be called Sidha Veda.It was then translated into the four existing languages of that period vis Sanskrit, Greek, Hebrew and Chinese.”
 So much before the time of Hippocrates, the ideas of Siddha Medicine were translated into Greek. As we shall see later, the highly changing geography of the land occupied by the Siddhars due to destructive tsunamis and incursions by the ocean by rising sea levels, led to the disappearance of many records and monuments under the invading waters. Neverthless survivors carried this knowledge out with them and today we are getting more evidence from old palm leaf manuscripts, re-descovered and studied.
It is only appropriate to add that Siddha Vedam is now getting renown the world over thanks to Siddha physicians like Dr Pankaj Naram and Siddha researchers like Dr Clint Rogers who did a Ted Talk on his own personal experiences having travelled for 13 years with the Master. (79)
So we have evidence of Siddha knowledge having been translated into Greek very much before the time of Hippocrates. So it is not surprising that the Siddha line of thinking had percolated Greek thinking. The Siddhas had such an expansive self view, because of their high transdimensional competence, that they looked upon all of humanity as one; they shared their knowledge readily, fully and openly, as the palm leaves state. Their mastery over time and their ability to see future catastrophes ahead of tie was possibly one more reason why they transcribed all knowledge into the then four leading languages of mankind.
With due respect to Hippocrates and all that he wisely propounded, we cannot be blind to the increasing evidence that four thousand years before Hippocrates, the Siddhars put forth principles of scientific  medicine that even modern medicine discovered only in the last 400 years. As early as 500BC there were maritime connections between southern India, Kataragama in Sri Lanka and GrecoRomans. (80) Siddha thought is bound to have reached Greece. Even mutual religious influences were present. One school of thought is that Dionysus and Skanda are one and the same.(81) There is evidence that Democritus, the Guru of Hippocrates, and Heraclitus who lived before Hippocrates were both influenced by Vedic thought on health.(82) Today we know Heraclitus was very likely, influenced by the Chandogya Upanishad.(83) Since a Guru’s thought process is bound to be passed on to his students,  it is quite possible that ancient Siddha views on health, wellness, disease and medicines could have influenced Hippocrates through Democritus; for the similarities of thought process are so striking. It is a humble hypothesis, that what the Siddhars said millennia ago, and are written in the Vedas, found expression through Hippocrates into the western world.
In fact, evidence is accumulating that from Kateragama  the Sri Lankan mountain site steeped in mysticism, the ancient Siddhars in fact influenced Greek thought.(80) It may well be, that it was the universal wisdom that reached Greece through the Siddha tradition that found utterance through Democritus and Hippocrates.
More evidence is accumulating from archaeological finds, that India of the Ramayana times ie , roughly, 5500-7000 BC, influenced European thinking. So the probability is very high, that Indian Vedic thought which developed on Siddha foundations, found expression through Hippocrates.

How the ancient SSM progressed:
The Siddha system flourished under the Siddhars trained by the initial 18 masters. Thirumoolar established more medical schools and hospitals write Rajasekaran and Narayana in a recent paper.(84) They quote  writings and  archeological evidence to prove that a medical hospital and medical school in Thiruvaaduthurai had been developed by the great Siddhar Thirumoolar.
To aspiring physicians and spiritual aspirants, Thirumoolar wrote, ‘of the need for Man to control and discipline himself through Yoga to realize the God in him and thus attain the highest spiritual state.For Siddhars always doing good to others and seeking self realization was vital; such wise ones were to undergo Rejuvenation and Longevity through Yoga for the good of the general public and for his own salvation in life” . (84)The hospitals and medical schools continued to be maintained by the temples during the period of Vikrama Chola.
 Rajasekaran points out, “The compendium of Thirumoolar showed a well-developed medical system and this shows that science of medicine and surgery must have been gradually developed for several centuries BEFORE his time.” (84) During the Chola period, more hospitals and medical schools were started, tax free lands were assigned to the physicians. The qualities of good medicine and medical ethics were also laid down in Thirumandiram and this might have become the basis for the proper development of medicine.
The greatest contribution of the Great Siddha Physicians however, is their mastery over existence; their ability to live on beyond physical realms. This knowledge has come right down to the 21st century from Siddhar Agastyar through his many disciples. Bogar who became Lao Tse after transmifgration, Tirumoolar, the author of Tirumanthiram described as one of the greatest texts of yoga and mystic truth ever written, who lived for over 3,000 years in the pre-Christian era, and Tiruvalluvar the author of the world famed classic scripture the Tirukkural, who lived 2,000 years ago, were Siddhar Agastyar’s disciples.. Though to many ordinary folk of Tamilnadu and to the Tamilian diaspora across the world, who seek Siddha treatment,‘Agastya Muni’is a real presence, modern educated folk interested in Yoga are more likely to relate to Siddhar Agastyar’s disciple, Mahavatar Babaji, who has become globally renowned in this 21st century, rather than to Siddhar Agastyar himself, who has kept out of the limelight.

The Great Siddhar & Physician, Agastyar
AGASTYAR
Now let us study the history of the foremost Siddhar & Physician, Agastyar. It is interesting to note that the life history of Agastyar was published on the net by late Dr Mandayam kumar who painstakingly translating into English what was transcribed to him from a 3000 plus year old Naadi.(85) (86)(87).(88) From acquaintances of late Dr Mandayamkumar, I came to know that he did so  with the help of late Sri Hari a Vellore based temple-sculptor. Late Sri Hari, who possessed the transdimensional competence to read a Jeeva Naadi in turn, had been given the Nadi palm leaf manuscript by a stranger while working in a temple. We owe a great debt of gratitude to late Dr Mandayam Kumar whose life time work has brought to light, from ancient palm leaf manuscripts, the history of Siddha System of Medicine and the history of Great Siddhar Physician, Agastyar. As the references listed by late Dr Mandayamkunmar are most likely in palm leaf manuscript form, they are listed here, rather than with the routine list of references. They are:
1)- Prapancha kandam 810
2)- Prapancha Kandam 1700
3)- Agasthyar 2000
4)- Agasthyar 12000
5)- Adi Poorvam 1,2,3,4.
6)- Thaeriyar Poorvam-Moolam
7)- Adimuni Anubandam
8)- Malaimuni Anubandam
9)- Malaimuni Anubandam
10)-  Malaimuni Rathinasurukkam
11)-  Pithan Malai
12)-  Podigai Malai Charal
13)-  Kutrala Kuravanji Malai YathreekamY
(Siddha Medical Research Institute, Bangalore-560003)

The lifetime work of late P Karthigayan also corroborates Dr Mandayam Kumar’s work.(89) The crux of the matter is, that the ancient Siddhas were adepts at existing in different dimensions of consciousness. Only the physical dimension is bound by time and space. The mind, supreme intelligence and bliss dimensions of consciousness are not bound by time and space. Through Jeeva Samadhi, the Great Siddhars moved on to the unbound dimensions and at will are able to influence as well as manifest in this physical dimension governed by the rules of space-time.
This secret of ‘immortality’ is widely known in India. Modern ‘educated’ Indians, are likely to have read about the dimensions of existence / consciousness in the Bhagavad Gita.  
That Agastyar had mastered the art of immortality and that he was beyond the calculations of ‘normal human life span’ is a concept beyond the ken of most modern historians and scientists. However, for the Yogis of India, who have experienced life in all dimensions, this is nothing new. In our contemporary times, one example of such a Yogi would be the well known Sadhguru of Isha fame; and a Master who in our own times, is leading a global mission of selfless service with love to enable fellow human beings realize their true identity beyond the physical, is Sri Sathya Sai Baba. As one who has directly experienced the latter , this author has no hesitation in accepting the fact that many Great Siddhars.have indeed achieved that state of  ‘immortality’; in that pantheon, Siddhar Agastyar stands out as the Grand Sire of Siddha System of Medicine.
There are 8 amazing timelines that Siddhar Agastyar is associated with:
 1)- Siddhar Agastyar  lived in 14000 BC as he was  the Chairperson for the first Tamil Sangam which continued, unbroken for a period of 4440 years according to well kept Tamil historical literature.(90)
2)- SiddharAgastyar continued from the first Sangam through the  Second Sangam, which lasted between  6826-3126 BCE
3)-  At the beginning of Kali Yuga, ie 3100 BC, SiddharAgastyar met with Lord Muruga, Devi Shenbagavalli and Dakshinamurthy at Mahendragiri mountain near Courtallam, according to the palm leaf manuscript, deciphered by Dr Mandayam Kumar.
4)- “On the 21st day of the Tamil month of Kartigai, during the eleventh year, Eswara Samvatsara,of Kali Yuga. …..Samvatsara ie 11th year of Kali Yuga ie 3089 BC Agastyar chaired a major conclave of Siddhas who under Lord Dakshinamurthy’s instructions began compiling all their knowledge into a treatise called SIDDHA VEDAM that led to the wisdom and knowledge being put down in writing by various Siddhars for posterity. It was then translated into the four existing languages of that period vis Sanskrit, Greek, Hebrew and Chinese.”- Dr Mandayam Kumar(86) (87)(88)
5)- “A conference of Siddhas called Sidhar Sabai was held during the 53rd year, Sidharti Samvatsara, of Kali Yuga, ie 3047 BC at Courtalam. Siddhar Gnanakoodam, an institute for all Siddha knowledge headed by Agastyar was inaugurated by Lord Muruga and it also marked the beginning of the Siddha Medical School at Thorana Malai.” (86)(87)(88)
6)- After world wide travels Agastyar went into seclusion in the Podigai hills, ( exact date not known in the references that I accessed)….
7)- Agastyar, around 2000 years ago, in 218 AD,  appeared and taught Nagaraj who is revered as the deathless Babaji of the Kriya Yogis.(91)(92)
8)- Even today- in the 21st century Agastyar, through Siddha physicians with the transdimensional skills developed by regular meditation, through the Great Siddhar Agastyar, helps patients who seek his advice. I have personally met and heard first hand how Agastyar has tutored a young 1993 born Siddha physician, Dr Siva, in Siddha Medicine. Inspired by Agastyar, now Dr Siva says that he wants to grow spiritually and become a Siddhar and not just continue practice as a Siddha Physician. He is contactable on +91 9047664693. This young Siddha physician is but one example that I know of, personally. There may be others.
9)- On a personal note, may I add a 9th point- in my meditation I had a vision of Sage Agastyar and he revealed that I would have to write about him. A Shirdi Baba devotee who had been mysteriously blessed with a palmleaf manuscript pertaining to Great Siddhar Agastyar further confirmed it. (93) It is my personal belief that ONLY by the Sankalpa (Divine Will) of my Guru Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and by the Blessings of Agastyar, I have been able to somehow stumble on to exactly the right references  pertaining to him and more importantly, meet a Siddha physician who has been personally tutored by Agastyar both in the meditative state and in dream states. Like many devotees of Great Master, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I have experienced the phenomenon of connecting with the Master in meditation. Hence I am able to understand to some extent, what Dr Siva and many others are experiencing.
A Research Gate publication by Ajmal, after analysiing many stalwarts named Agastyar concludes he was the Podigamalai Agastyar who chaired the first and second Sangams. So immortality and the ability to live on as long as they wanted was very much a ‘Siddhi’ that ancient Siddhars had.(94) As David Frawley points out pre-historic civilisations were perhaps far more advanced in consciousness research.
That Agastyar’s disciple, Babaji of the Kriya Yogis, has been living on for over two millennia initiating many great Masters into yoga is now known globally. In a similar manner, owing to his yogic abilities to continue existence in all dimensions, like his student, the deathless Maha Avatar Babaji, Siddhar Agastyar continues to exist and is contactable to this day. Agastyar was active, in that manner, during the Sangam periods. What is more, out of his compassion for fellowmen, Agastyar, as we saw, is also accessible through transdimensionally through Nadis to help the common man with intractable medical problems, even in this 21st century!
Modern medicine is yet to catch up with such phenomena; but there are many scientific researchers of the para normal and many non medical people pursuing spiritual research who have experienced and can understand this ability to get beyond time.
 Even now there are many Masters in India who live far beyond’ normal’ human life expectancy. The grandfather of the young Siddha physician, Dr Siva, lived up to 130 years. He was a Siddha physician too and an adept. At the age of 130 he chose to leave by Jala Samadhi.
According to late Dr Mandayamkumar, the 3000plus years old palm leaf manuscript gave the following information about Agastyar.(85) (86) (87) (88)
 Agastyar was  born about 4573 years prior to the commencement of Kali Yuga at a place in Gujarat,in the early hours of Tuesday,14th of February; ie in 7673 BC ie 9691 years ago.” (85, 86,87,88)This may be questioned by those who believe that Agastyar was present all through the First Sangam 11226-6826 BC. Was that a ‘para kaya pravesha’? By the Will of the One supreme Divine, the adepts could enter any physical body which served as a vehicle for them to manifest.; as the Dalai Lamas and great Rimpoches used to do. They reincarnated time and again for fellow beings carrying with them their subtle bodies into newer gross bodies. Since modern medicine has not, advanced to those levels, it is unable to comprehend such phenomena. However quantum physics and quantum mechanics enable us understand the possibility.
 Belonging to the North of India, his father Bhargava was well learned while his mother Indumathi was from Punjab.They were both devotees of the Pasupatha order of the sage Rishabha Muni.
What was India like then? According to historian, Vedveer Arya,
First Sangam Period (11226-6826 BCE)
The Second SANGAM Period:  (6826-3126 BCE).(90)
So Agastyar straddled both the first and second Sangam periods. Literary and historical evidence supports this.
To quote Dr Mandayam Kumar,
Agastyar then had his early education in Gujarat. As his thirst for knowledge in particular, philosophy, yoga, medicine,and astronomy was immense he traveled all over Kashmir, Tibet, China, Nepal and Kailas in Manchuria. MountKailas was deemed to be in Manchuria those days.
He became a disciple of sage Nandi and Dhanvantri. He then traveled towards the south to Cambodia and Malaya .In Cambodia he established the very first of his many educational institutions for the propagation of philosophy and science.
After establishing a similar institution and hospital in Malaya ( which means the concept of hospitals and health care was present in those remote times 9000 plus years ago) he crossed the sea to the continent of Kumari Kandam.During Agastyar’s time Kumari Kandam occupied a vast area extending from the present day Sri Lanka to the Antarctic. This continent was ruled by Ravana,a great devotee of Lord Siva.
King Ravana gave away a portion of his kingdom to Agastyar to establish more institutions.The foremost of these institutions in this region was known as Arunodaya these was in Arunodaya Giri or Meozone. Here Agastyar practiced yoga and taught it to his large following of disciples. He then went back north to Malaya where he was betrothed to the king’s daughter. He then ruled the kingdom of Vijayapuri.
He returned to Kumari Kandam where he met Lord Murugan in the form of sage Kandan or Subramaniar at Trikona Malai, present day Trincomali. At the hill station called Kadir Kama or Kadhirgama, Lord Murugan imparted spiritual knowledge to Agastyar. Agastyar is believed to have participated in the second Sangam. “
Modern historians naturally, unable to believe that anyone could exist for so long brought in the theory of multiple persons bearing the name, ‘Agastyar’. But the fact is, that many adepts of this land then, and in fact there are such adepts even today, who have mastered the art of living on in dimensions other than the physical and they can at will create a physical body too. As recently as in the past century, numerous persons with unimpeachable credentials such as Paramahansa Yogananda, Swami Rama, Sri M and others have written about such adepts. As mentioned earlier, I have myself witnessed such abilities of my own Master Sri Sathya Sai Baba and his previous physical Form named Shirdi Sai Baba, I can easily accept the fact that an adept like Agastyar can live on as long as he wishes to.
Out of my interest in these ancient cultural practices of India I have had first hand experience with the Shuka Jeeva Nadi two decades ago and with an Agastya Jeeva Nadi recently wherein he blessed me to research and write about him. This may be considered a statement of fact; though I do not understand the how of it.(95) (93). This is again an area for younger doctors to research; our continued existence in other dimensions. For a start, even if we cannot explain it logically, such phenomena must be honestly documented.
Possibly after the first Sangam, Agastyar decided to move to the Arctic area. The palmleaf manuscript states, says Dr Mandayamkumar, “ In his meditation Agasthiyar who could see into the future saw impending calamities. As a result he moved to the North Pole considering it to be a safe place. Exactly as as he had feared, the impending calamity happened. A  tremendous explosion in the planet Mars sents a piece of debris towards earth.This impact caused a great deluge on the earth. Significant portions of Kumari Kandam submerged into the Indian Ocean.” It is amazing that modern science, as we saw earlier, has vindicated what this 3000plus years old palm leaf manuscript stated. We know today that an extinction level cosmic impact event occurred on earth 12800 years ago!  Siddhar Agastyar’s  move to the Arctic is placed at about 6580 BC ie 8598 years ago.. It is interesting to note that Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote about the Arctic homeland of the Vedas in 1903; this ancient palmleaf manuscript translated by Dr Mandayamkumar says just that.
We have already seen Siddhar Agastyars sphere of influence. All across south east Asia, as far as New Zealand, Agastya is revered even today.  
To revert to Dr Mandayamkumar’s translation, “On returning to Mancuria after the great flood Kailas was no more but instead the Himalayan mountain range had emerged in North India. Because of all this geographical sage Agastyar went seeking for a place that would not be affected by future calamities.
He located a mountain range in South India in present day Courtalam .Here Agastyar met Lord Siva and Uma in the form of Dhashina Murthi and Shenbaga Devi. The exact spot where the meeting took place between Dhashina Murthi, Shenbaga Devi,Lord Murugan and Agastyar was Mahadeva Giri. Timeline wise, this meeting also signified the commencement of Kali Yuga in 3100BC.
Other sages then stated coming to Mahadeva Giri. Lord Dhashina Murthi revived the knowledge of the Vedas and instructed these sages to propagate this knowledge at the appropriate manner and time for the benefit of humanity.This imparting of this knowledge was said to have taken place on the 21st day of the Tamil month of Kartigai, during the eleventh year, Eswara Samvatsara,of Kali Yuga. Agathiyar gave much importance to this day. All his dating was reckoned from this day.
The sages recorded their knowledge on palm leaves after extensive discussions held in Alagan Kulam and presented them to Dhashina Murthi for his perusal. This included the 64 kinds of learning,18 Puranas,96 Tatvas,and 48 branches of scientific knowledge. The entire literature in Tamil came to be called Sidha Veda.It was then translated into the four existing languages of that period vis Sanskrit,Greek, Hebrew and Chinese.” It is only appropriate to add that Siddha Vedam is now getting renown the world over thanks to Siddha physicians like Dr Pankaj Naram and Siddha researchers like Dr Clint Rogers who did a Ted Talk on his own personal experiences having travelled for 13 years with the Master. (79)
 It is interesting to note that modern writers and historians like C Shanmuganayagam  of Sri Lanka have found linguistic, historical, folklore related and metallurgy related evidence linking the Greek, Egyptian, Sumerian, Mesopotamian and even MesoAmerican civilisations to Indian pre-historic civilization. What is more, the great flood and Agastyar and the great Siddhars had a pivotal role in this crucial part of the history of mankind; for they helped man survive the deluge and re-start civilization in various parts of the globe. It is appropriate to see this view point of history as given in a 2014 face book post by Srilan Srisukumaran, who quotes Author C Shanmuganayagam. It corroborates the palm leaf inscriptions translated by Dr Mandayamkumar. I quote the facebook post,
Lord Murugan is well known as the adi guru who transmitted the Tamil language together with its mysteries long ago to sage Agastya Muni, who in turn shared it with humanity. This article by a learned Sri Lankan devotee explores the legacy of Lord Murugan's great disciple.

A rare and illuminating book in English on the life and works of the great siddhas of ancient and modern times, with particular reference to Śrī Agastiyar, the archetype of all siddhas and gurus, was published in Canada recently, entitled Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga tradition, written by Marshall Govindan, an advanced Kriya Yoga sadhaka of Los Angeles and a keen scholar, who had carried out extensive literary and spiritual research in India and Sri Lanka for twenty years under the guidance of Yogi S.A.A. Ramaiah.

In the hierarchy of siddhas or perfected human beings, or Initiates of the White Brotherhood as they are called in the West, who have guided the destinies of nations on our planet Earth for the past 12,000 years of recorded history, the ageless legendary siddha Śrī Agastiya Maha Muni stands out as the senior-most guru who initiated a galaxy of eminent gurus and siddhas down the ages, and who had established and nurtured the ancient Dravidian civilization lasting several millennia. He is also acknowledged, in occult circles, as the head of a representative group of rishis entrusted with the guiding of the destiny of India and other nations called the Sapta Rishis as disclosed in certain ola leaf manuscripts called rishi vakyams and also in theosophical writings. Agastiyar is also considered the author of several Rig Vedic hymns in Sanskrit connected with the Aryan civilization of the North.

Śrī Agastiyar's role in the Ramayana

In the Ramayana saga, which is deemed by historians to have taken place about 7000 to 9,000 years ago in the Treta Yuga, Śrī Agastiyar is reported to have appeared before Rama himself on the day before the final victorious termination of the war with Ravana, the hitherto invincible King of Lanka, and initiated Lord Rama with a special divine mantra to counter the effect of the powerful boons that Ravana had earned from the gods by his great tapas.

It is significant to note that, according to geo physical research based on the movement of the continental plates, the Lanka of Ravana was situated in the continent of Lemuria, also known as Kumari Kandam, which was a land mass, connecting the Deccan plateau in South India and the island of Ceylon, with intervening straits to be crossed, with Madagascar in the West, Australia on the East and Antarctica on the South, until it sank into the Indian ocean in stages over 3,500 years ago, as mentioned in the writings of the German geologist Wagner anti the eminent Indologist Sir T.W. Holderness.

The research done by Fr. Heras and Sir John Marshall the archaeologist and other scholars into the archaeological finds at Mohenjodaro and Harappa point to the existence of an earlier highly developed Dravidian civilization in the deep South which, had influenced the Indus-Valley Aryan civilization of the North.

The available historical evidence referring to the Dravidian civilization commences with the records that have come down to us of the Tamil literary writings during the past 12,000 years, which have been divided by historians into three periods, called the First Sangam period from 9600 BC to 5200 BC, spanning the Satya and Treta yugas, the Second Sangam period from 5200 BC to 1500 BC spanning the Treta and Dwapara yugas, and the Third Sangam period from 1500 BC to 600 AD spanning the Dwapara and Kali yugas
”.(20)
 Let us see how it connects to the Indian concept of ‘cycles of time’.According to the present cycle of four yugas, namely Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali yugas, in their descending arc of 12,000 years and ascending arc of another 12,000 years, as stated by Śrī Yukteswar in his famous treatis called ‘Holy Science', we are now in the ascending arc of Dwapara yuga completed the Kali yuga period lasting from 600 BC to 1800 AD.(20)
It is perhaps appropriate to give one example of the knowledge that the ancient Masters of India had, regarding human physiology and its connection to the cosmos.The Soorya Siddhanth estimated to have been written 15-20000 years ago links the time cycles of the human body to the time cycles of the solar system. (96)
It mentions that light travels 2202 yojanas( 1 yojana = 9 miles) in half a nimisha(16/75th of a second) ie speed of light is 185794miles per sec. This is what modern science has computed too.
 Diameter of the sun X 108 = Distance of Sun from Earth.This has been corroborated by modern science.
 Diameter of moon X 08 + distance of moon from earth. This again has been corroborated by modern science.
As the earth is tilted its axis forms a circle as it spins. To form a full circle, it takes 25920 years.
 25920 divided by the number of minutes in an hour or the number of heart beats in health ie 60, is 432.
This number, 432, is linked by the ancients mathematically, to heart rate, as follows:
60 X 60 X 24 = 86400 is the number of seconds in 24 hours;
 in a ‘daytime’ ie 12 hours it beats 43200 times
The number of Breaths per minute relates to the csmos too.
Average number of breaths per minute is 15
Number of breaths in 24 hours is 15 X 60 X 24 = 21600
Earth is a sphere of 360 degrees
1 degree = 60 minutes
1 minute = 1 nautical mile
So circumference of Earth at equator = 21600 nautical miles!
The orbit the Earth takes around the sun is divided into 27 Nakshatras
Each Nakshatra has 4 padas; so the earh takes 27 X 4 = 108 steps around the sun
The no 27 als represents 27 phases of the moon; from full moon to new moon ; and new moon to full moon.
The human cycles within human body are responding and corresponding to that!
A healthy woman has a cycle every 27.55 days
Therefore, we find that, as stated by the ancients, Pinda + anda + brahmanda are IN SYNC.
Based on these mathematical relationships, the Siddhars recommended that human beings needed to be in sync with the cosmos for good health.
Another practice, which is continued to this day by some yogis in India and Tibet, which is beyond the understanding of modern medicine are the phenomena of different kinds of Samadhi.
I quote, “SiddharAgastiyar taught and transmitted to several of his disciples over the ages the Kriya yoga techniques of divinising the cells of the body and:
1. rendering the physical body deathless for centuries, (as in the case of the 18 Siddhas and Kriya Babaji), or
2. enabling the physical body to disappear completely and resurrect in a glow of light into a subtler vibrational field, (as in the case of Adi Sankaracharya and the four great Saiva saints namely the Nayanmars and Kabir of medieval times and Ramalinga Swamigal as recently as 1874), (97) (98) (99) or

3. enabling the physical body to be placed in a tomb in jeeva samadhi at will, in a state of suspended animation, where the blood circulation and the breathing have stopped but a luminous pranic energy keeps the body-cells alive, with the possibility of the Siddha dematerializing the body in the tomb and materializing it outside in a completely different locality and living out an extended span of life for several years (as in the case of three well-known siddhas of modern times, namely Śrī Raghavendra Swami about whom a popular film had been made recently, Śrī Kulandaj Ananda Swami whose last jeeva samadhi is in Madurai city and Śrī Muthukrishna Swami whose jeeva samadhi is in Vallioor)
” (20)
To revert to Late Mandayamkumar, he continues and I quote,
Sage Agastyar on the instruction of Lord Murugan originated the grammar for Tamil language.
Sage Bhogar from China, Thaeraiyar from Malaya,Yugimuni from Kerala, Pulipani from Kantha Malai, Pulathiyan and Kapiyan too served Agathiyar. A conference of sidhas called Sidhar Sabai was held during the 53rd year, Sidharti Samvatsara, of Kali Yuga at Courtalam.
An institution known as Sidhar Gnana Koodam was inaugurated by Lord Murugan and was headed by Agastyar.This led to the establishment of a Siddha School of Medicine ( more of this later).
 Pulathiyan and Kapiyan headed the literary section while Pulipani in research. Thaeraiyar who was into surgery headed a medical research centre established at Thorana Malai.Yugimuni who was into herbal medicines headed a hospital at Paradesi Kundai. Sage Bhogar who was in charge of all scientific researches established an alchemy research centre at Thiruparankundram. Pambatti Sidhar was heading a team researching venom at Marudamalai.
After having established these institutions Agastyar again started on an extensive mission of propagating the wealth of knowledge gained by these Siddhars in Tibet, Manchuria, Egypt, Palestine, Rome, America, Africa, Malaya and Arab world.”
It is interesting to note that recently the ancient African and Meso American civilisations have been found to have ties with this early peninsular Indian civilization.
After satisfactorily completing their mission of propagating the said teachings the sages went into 'Samadhi' merging themselves into the cosmos. Madayamkumar states quoting the palmleaf inscriptions, “Kandan went into Samadhi in Thorana Malai, Bhogar in Palani, Thaeraiyar, Pulipanai and Yugimuni in Kantha Malai,and Agastyar came back to Courtalam. He chose a spot called Dhashina Meru in the Pothigai Hills and is believed to be there to this day.”
Agastyar is now one of the most famous of holy men in India. He is considered to be a great sage and ascetic yogi and the oldest teacher of ancient times. He is described as the short great one. Agastyar was a master of many subjects. These include medicine, chemistry, pharmacy, astronomy and surgery. He was a spiritual giant and Agastya is men­tioned in all the scriptures of Hin­duism- the Vedas, the Brah­manas , the Puranas, the Ithihaasas.
 As a physician, Agastyar occupies the same eminence among the Tamils as Hippocrates does amongst the Greeks, and it is remarkable that there are some very curious coincidences between the doctrines of the former and those of the latter.”
 Agastyar is considered as the father of the Tamil language and grammar; he was also the ‘kulaguru’ of the divine line of Pandiyan rulers. At the same time he was well versed in Sanskrit and contributed to all the four Vedic texts, ie Rig Veda, Saama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharvana Veda.
Mandayamkumar continues, “ Agastyar is said to have had twelve disciples to whom he taught the different arts and sciences, and who were afterwards employed by him in instructing the people. The names of these disciples are: Tolkappiyanar, Adankotasiriyanar, Turalinganar, Semputcheyanar, Vaiyabiganar, Vippiyanar, Panambaranar, Kazharambanar, Avinayanar, kakkypadiniyar, Nattattanar and Vamanar, but few particulars are known about them.
Other prominent disciples included Thiruvalluvar, the author of the perennial classic of Tamil literature, Thirukural, and Babaji Nagaraj, the fountainhead of Kriya Yoga Siddhantham in the modern age. Their influence on the world today is immeasurable.
Agasthiyar is a sage of cultural integration, leading a fusion of the culture of the northern Aryans with that of the southern Dravidians
His ashram was the practical approach to harmony and integration, enabling every visitor to worship the Absolute in his or her own way. Perhaps as the ultimate expression of inclusiveness, he had not only  separate shrines to different deities but to appeal to ‘free thinkers’, had an illuminating shrine to ‘Righteousness’ as well!
  Dr Mandayamkumar adds, “Kamban says Agastyar welcomed Rama in the sweet, pleasant Tamil language, while his disciples chanted Vedic hymns. This may be seen in the story that Agasthiyar was specially sent down to the south by Lord Shiva himself at the time of His wedding with Parvati on the Himalayas. The north sank low under the weight of the crowding celestials while the south rose up, free of such burden, and the diminutive sage was sent south to right the tilt. Was it because at that time the south had forgotten its gods, or that the north had become too full of gods, masking the image of the single Absolute?”
Agastyar who mastered the art of existence has thus been a continuous presence straddling the Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, Kali Yuga just completed and the nascent Sathya Yuga that is rising! Practically, speaking, to many South Indians, Siddhar Agastyar is a living reality; a Siddha Physician to whom they turn to, when modern medicine fails. They consult him through Siddha physicians who have honed their meditative abilities or through spiritual Masters who are able to meditatively connect with the Great Siddhars. This may sound too farfetched but it is a fact; many have found succor through this method. From personal experience I can state that Nadis can be amazingly accurate. (95). Of course as in every area of human endeavor charlatans exist; but there are many genuine Nadis too. However going into depth about Nadis is beyond the purview of this article.
Mandayamkumar closes saying, “ The immortal message and spiritual technology of Kriya Yoga, which he taught to Babaji, may be the master key to modern man understanding that dimensions beyond the physical exist; that greed and selfishness must give way to understanding, unity and harmony; so that mankind not only survives but flourishes  in the modern world, where telecommunications and computer technology have created an interdependent 'global village'.
 “May the name of this great sage inspire us to righteous and harmonious action in these troubled times.”
In Tamilnadu, one of my own Professors of Medicine, late Dr Deivanayagam, who worked with late Dr Mandayam Kumar, had researched Siddha formulations and found benefit while treating HIV-AIDS cases.(100) During the engue and Chikungunya outbreaks, Siddha medicines were successfully used in the state.(101,!02, 103,) . Serious research in these areas is warranted. The value of following the nutrition and life style principles of this ancient system of medicine, coupled with the meditative techniques and Yoga which are common to both Siddha and Ayurveda systems can be extremely beneficial for the health of our nation; not to mention the benefit Siddha remedies seem to provide in viral infections.

A Deplorable Incident:
In this context, it is a matter of deep concern that a section of modern medical doctors, using the IMA banner, have declared that the Siddha System of Medicine is ‘quackery’.( 104) Defaming a  time tested, ancient system of medicine, of such great value, such as the Siddha System of Medicine,  which should be the pride of our nation, is highly deplorable.


Need to establish antiquity of Siddha System of Medicine & Need to restore its position in our medical heritage as a source of national pride
Not being a Siddha physician, I am not competent to comment on the efficacy of ancient Siddha medication; but if media and public reports on the effect of Siddha medicines in combating Dengue and Chikungunya  in the past decade in Tamilnadu are any indication,  in Siddha, we have a system of medicine of great value; we certainly should not allow it to be dubbed as ‘quackery’ by anyone.
Besides, the historicity and timelines of Siddha System of Medicine and our ancient culture are matters of national pride. Therefore it is imperative that at the earliest, the Department of Ayush constitutes an independent panel of experts with both expertise in history, knowledge of Tamil and Sanskrit and integrity beyond question, such as the people listed below to study the historicity and antiquity of the Siddha System of Medicine which helps innumerable people in south India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and so on. The Ministry of Tamil Language, Tamil Culture and Archeology, headed by a most learned and well informed Minister, Thiru K Pandiarajan could initiate and help the Ministry of AYUSH in the Central Government set up such a panel that can clarify all issues pertaining to the history of this great system of medicine of the Indian subcontinent.
After serious research on the subject, for a start, I suggest the following names; others may be added as deemed fit.
Jayasree Saranathan -  Dr. Jayasree Saranathan is a researcher, writer and astrologer with a Ph.D. in Astrology. Her research areas include Indology, Hindu Epics, Tamil Sangam literature and Astro-meteorology.
Rajiv Malhotra- (born 15 September 1950) is an Indian-American author who, after a career in the computer and telecom industries, took early retirement in 1995 to found the Infinity Foundation, which focuses on Indic studies, and also funds projects such as Columbia University's project to translate the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur.
Apart from the foundation, Malhotra promotes a non-western view on "Indic" cultures, mainly Hinduism. Malhotra has written prolifically in opposition to the academic study of Indian culture and society originating in Europe and the United States, especially the study of Hinduism as it is conducted by scholars and university faculty of the West, which he maintains denigrates the tradition and undermines the interests of India "by encouraging the paradigms that oppose its unity and integrity,(Wikepedia)
An inventor and out-of-the-box thinker, Sree Iyer has 37 patents in the areas of Hardware, Software, Encryption and Systems. His first book NDTV Frauds has been published and is an Amazon Bestseller. ... His second book, The Gist of GSTN which too is available on Amazon as an e-Book
SV Ramanan-  Retired Senior Management Professional, currently Management Consultant-Education and visiting Professor to Universities on Management.
Conducts courses in Soft Skills, Stress Management , Indian Philosophy and Culture.
With Degrees in Philosophy and Psychology,  spent Eight Years in learning Vedas, Sacred Books of Hindus.(Ramani’s blog)
Sadhguru of Isha.org-  Sadhguru, is an Indian yogimystic, and author. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization which offers Yoga programs around the world and is involved in social outreach, education and environmental initiatives. His books have appeared in The New York Times Best Seller list in multiple categories like "Health", "Religion, Spirituality and Faith",]and "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous". Jaggi Vasudev has given speeches at places such as the Headquarters of the United NationsWorld Economic Forum and at educational institutions and technology companies. Sadhguru was conferred the Padma Vibhushan civilian award by the Government of India in 2017 in recognition of his contribution to the field of spirituality.(Wikipedia)
David Frawley-  David Frawley (Sanskrit title: वामदेव शास्त्रीIASTVāmadeva Śāstrī), born 1950, is an American Hindu teacher (acharya) and a Hindutva[a] activist.
He has written numerous books on topics spanning the VedasHinduismYogaAyurveda and Vedic astrology. Whilst rejected by the academia as fringe sectarian scholarship, his works have been popular among the common masses. In 2015 he was honored by the Government of India with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India.(Wikipedia)
The above list of persons have unquestioned integrity, besides expertise. A panel such as this, may be authorized to examine in depth, the evidence available and provide updated correct information on this important subject of the history and antiquity of the Siddha System of Medicine and the Grand Sire of Medicine for mankind, Great Siddhar and Physician, Agastyar.
Food for thought as I sign off:
This article is certainly not the last word on the three subjects touched upon in it, namely,
1)- antiquity of Siddha System of Medicine and its highly scientific nature even in ancient times, as allegedly revealed in palm leaf inscriptions,
2)- the fact that Great Physicians like Siddhar Agastyar were real persons and need to be accorded their rightful position in the annals of the history of medicine on the planet, and
3)- the need to restore the Siddha System of Medicine to its rightful pride of place in our national medical heritage. 
This article is in fact it is just a humble attempt to kindle right thinking in these areas.
As a novice with some experience of transdimensional perception, though my modern medical colleagues may find this ‘unscientific’, I herewith record my humble salutations to Maha Siddhar Agastyar who blessed me in a vision to write about him; and I offer humble salutations at the Feet of to my Master, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who guides me inwardly in all matters.




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16.