Traditional Systems of Medicines

India's Traditional Systems of Medicine (TSM) split broadly into two kinds: institutionalised, documented systems such as Siddha and Ayurveda, each practised for roughly two thousand years and backed by prescribed texts covering symptoms, diagnosis, drug preparation, dosage, diet and seasonal regimen; and non-institutionalised, oral traditions kept and practised by rural and tribal communities across India, with no written record. Every TSM shares a focus on healthy lifestyle and diet as the route to good health and to reversing disease. Siddha, the system most widely practised and culturally accepted in Tamil Nadu, is based on texts composed by 18 Siddhars (scholars whose exact identity and origins are still debated, drawn from Tamil Nadu and beyond) and rests on the Pancabhuta philosophy, under which three humors — Vātam, Pittam and Kapam — govern health, and any imbalance among them causes illness; it draws its roughly 800 herbal drug sources from plants, animal parts, marine products and minerals, with a particular specialism in mineral-based drugs valued for their long shelf life, and it emphasises disease prevention, health promotion and rejuvenation. Ayurveda, said to have originated with Brahma, was documented by Charaka, Sushruta and Vagbhata in their compendiums, and similarly rests on three humors — Vatha, Pitha and Kapha — kept in equilibrium for good health; it draws mainly on herbs (with a good share of Himalayan species) and fewer animal-derived sources, and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India lists about 500 medicinal plants. The Folk system survives purely as oral tradition among India's many rural and tribal communities; the Ministry of Environm …