The Biobrio 1(1), 2014

TOUCH THERAPY: SOCIO-CULTURAL BELIEFS MAINTAINING HEALTH OF TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

SUTANU LAL BONDYA, ANURADHA DAS AND SHASHI KUMAR GUPTA

ABSTRACT:

The life of Ethnic communities residing in this region, mainly pivot round their rich Phytodiversity, of which they are a part. They have deep faith in supernatural powers of the plants; this may be due to their intense knowledge about their ambient phyto-diversity. Touch therapy, is a process of treatment in which medicines (i.e. locally available plant parts) are made to touch a specific part of the body (superficially), of the patient or domestic animals and thus cure various ailments. It is one of the common socio-cultural beliefs & being practiced mainly by the women & herbal healers of the tribes, mainly the Santhal and the Paharias, of Santhal Parganas. These plants are mainly, associated with festive and auspicious days, riddance from disease, safeguards against animals and evil spirits. The present paper deals with such ethno-medicinal plants, which is being used in touch therapy. Also it highlights this prospect for further researches for its impact, along with the constructive scientific application of this traditional knowledge in the area and our country as a whole.

Keywords:    

Ethnic communities, Touch therapy, medicines, herbal healers

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