EAP810/15/17

Title in original script: வைத்திய காவியம்- 1000

The manuscript, in excellent condition, is formed of a text composed of parts dealing with medicine. The text, entitled Vaittiya Kāviyam – 1000, contains 361 palm leaves on which 944 verses are written and explain in prose.

The text, which is incomplete, provides a list of 1570 medicines and informs on the remedies for treating all types of dysentery (carva aticāram) such as dysentery resulting from imbalance of pitta (pitta aticāram) and kapha (cilēṟpaṉa aticāram), abdominal colic (vayiṟṟu vali) and bloody dysentery (ratta aticāram); and 13 types of delirium (caṉṉi) including delirium provoked by imbalance of vāta (vāta caṉṉi) presented with their clinical features (kuṉmam). Despite the text provides a lot of information, the lack of continuity in the developed topics gives its reading difficult.

The leaves 318 and 319 present the description of fevers and their occurrence influenced by a particular planet (naṭcattirattil nōyuṟṟāl); explanation on state of pulses (nāṭi nilai), documentation of curable and fatal delirium (caṉṉi cāttiyam and acāttiyam), and of state of breath (nāci nilai).

The leaves from 324 to 331 documents adjuvants used for boosting the efficacy of medicines. The text is presented in the form yāppu (type of literature) written in akaval, verses used to invoke the god.

The leaves numbered from 332 to 337 describe some medicinal formulations.

The final leaves from 338 to 360 present a tabulation of the 1570 types of medicines. The text provides information on the author and the date of creation of this list. The author was Naṉmai Āḻvār Nāṭār (Nāṭār is a caste name of a community specialising in the palm products; Āḻvār refers to a group of Vaiṣṇava poet-saints), son of Āti Muttu Nāṭār who lived in the village of Villicherry (ex-Tirunelveli disctrict, presently Tuticorin district). The list was written the 22 January 1715 (Tamil year: Cārvari)

The last leaf 361 is an invocation “nīṭūḻi vāḻka veṇṭiyatu” signifying long time (life).

Size of the manuscript: 37.0cm x 3.3cm. The palm leaves of the text are numbered from 1 to 360. There 6 blank leaves among them 4 are placed at the end of the manuscript and two disparate leaves placed after the main text. The manuscript is in excellent condition; rare broken leaves.