Main Article Content
Abstract
Traditional Medicine play a significant role in the health care needs of tribal people.Traditional healers are integral resources for health care needs of the mankirdia tribe of the odisha.Mankirdia tribe is one of the Particular Vulnerable Tribal Groups(PVTG),known for its rich traditional knowledge.They use their own traditional healing sources to addresse different disease; and transform that generic sources to their future generation. Mankirdia tribe have large quantum of indigenous knowledge resources from diverse field.And their understanding towards health and healing posses a alternative world view ,which is a quite different from the general perception.For instance the role of emotional condition holds much more importance for mankirdia people than a physiological pain; and their cultural foundation inclines them to keep faith on socio-cultural realities,which is based on socio-religious,supernatural and material ,immaterial objects.All these domain of knowledge have their own justification for well-being of the mankirdia people.There are three dominate types of healers actively working in the mankirdia community.The most respected healers among the mankirdia are (Ojha) herbalist,religious healer (Dirhi) and the spiritual healer Mati or shaman.It was observed that herbalist healers and spiritual healer have good social recognition and trust among the community members.All of these have their own domain of practices but are not strictly compartmentalisation among them.There are many situation they have to handle with each others coordination,so their customary knowledge is interchangeable according to the need and demands of the diseases person. It is an ethnographic study,the fieldworker collected the lived exprerince of mankirdia people in general and healers community in special.It concluded that Mankirdia tribes have strong faith on socio-religious,supernatural realm and extensively used various herbal, medicine for preventing,curative and rehabilitative purposes.And also use the modern health care practice in different health issues.Although they have faith on their own system of medicine ; furthermore they use the alternative system of medicine as per the desire and demand.It shows the mankirdia’s rationality over choices they have made for treatment.The important cause of their use of traditional medicine is affordability, accessbilty and availability of the medicine men near to them.And their strong socio-cultural belives system over indigenous medical approach.