Oushadha Biksha Yatra: Sreedhareeyam Keeps up a Unique Tradition for Society’s Wellness

KOCHI:
Keeping up a unique tradition, Sreedhareeyam Oushadheswari temple of Koothattukulam in Kerala will be organising from June 26 to July 15 its Oushadha Biksha Yatra, a campaign to the length and breadth of the state to collect medicines and herbs for making the special monsoon season Ayurvedic preparation traditionally served to people in the month of Karkitakam of Malayalam calendar for mental and physical agility.
The campaign will tour through 114 temples up and down the state, gathering the medicinal ingredients and seeking divine blessings for a healthy society. The Oushadheswari Temple is associated with Kerala’s leading Ayurvedic retreat run by the Nellikkattu Mana , a Namboothiri Brahmin family reputed for preserving and practising the best traditions of the centuries old Indian wellness system.
It has been a centuries old tradition in Kerala to take specially prepared medicines and follow a strict regimen of simple diets and oil baths in the month of Karkitakam (broadly July-August ), which will re-energise the body and mind.
The Yatra has been organised in two stretches. The first one will tour south Kerala down to Valiyasala in Thiruvananthapuram, covering 28 temples. The second leg of the Yatra will start from Thiruvananthapuram and tour up to Neeleswaram in Kasargode district, touching 47 temples. The campaign then will return from there to Koothattukulam, visiting 39 temples en route.
The Yatra, on its return to the Oushadheswari temple on July 15, will be accorded a rousing reception, followed by dedication of the 14-foot high Oushadheswari sculpture by Aswathi Tirunal Gowri Lakshmibhai Thampuratty of the Travancore royal family.
Medicines, herbs and other ingredients collected during the campaign from around the state would go into the making of the special ‘Karkitaka” medicine package, which will be distributed to the people
On the first day of Karkitakam month, special poojas and rituals, including the “Ashtadravya Ganapathi Homam’ , offering 1008 coconuts, will be performed by priests led by Sooryakaladi Sooryan Parameswaran Nampoothiripad. This will be followed by the ‘Gaja Pooja’, lining up more than 20 elephants, and then the distribution of the medicinal preparation.
The preparation will be served to the devotees from 6 to 12 in the forenoon and 5 to 7 in the evening on all days, till the end of Karkitakam. The temple trust has chosen film star Jayaram for this year’s Oushadheswari Puraskaram, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to art and culture.
The award was announced by Hari N Namboothiri, Trustee, Sreedhareeyam Oushadheswari Temple, P K Vyasan, Convenor, Festival Committee and Sreekumar N, Manager, Sreedhareeyam Oushadheswari. Jayaram, an accomplished percussion artist, will lead the performance of ‘Panchari melam’ at the temple on July 16. The temple has also organised ‘Oushadha Ponkala” on August 6, a ritual seeking divine blessings for the wellness of the society as a whole.