Jammu temple curing snake bite; doctor says works only for non-poisonous variety
Baba Dhanvantari Temple at Lalyana village, in Bishnah tehsil, 25 km from Jammu city, is buzzing these days.
In addition to the normal rush of devotees, the temple, named after the god of Ayurveda, also gets around 30 snake bite victims a day for treatment during the monsoon.
For many, this is superstition, but for people who rush to treat their loved ones to the temple after a snake bite, it is more a journey of faith.
“Baba Dhanvantari Temple has been curing snake bite victims since 1979. The temple is open 24x7 for snake bite victims who are rushed to us, mostly at odd hours, by families,” says temple priest, Guldev Raj, 71.
“The moment a snake bite victim comes, we take him to the sanctum sanctorum, where we perform some rituals. Then, volunteers (there are more than 35 of them) take turns and suck the venom out of the victim’s body. We also give ash (Vibhuti) from the Havan Kund and tie a sacred threat on the victim. Almost every victim is cured,” claims Raj.
“Some victims are cured in a short time. We do get patients, who remain here for 15 days, a month or even two months depending on the pace of recovery. We provide them food and accommodation, without charging a penny,” he adds.
The priest recalled a recent incident where a young man was stung by a poisonous snake, probably of the haemotoxic (affecting red blood cells, so bleeding is reported), who stayed at the temple for treatment for nearly two months and recovered fully.
“Doctors in Jammu had given up hope and had asked his family to take him to Ludhiana or Chandigarh. They arrived in the the middle of the night in an ambulance. The victim, who was on a drip, was not breathing properly and his pulse was weak. We treated him and the young man remained here for almost two months, before recovering fully,” the priest claims, adding that there have been instances when the victims reached the temple late and could not be saved.
SCIENCE IS FUZZY FOR VOLUNTEERS
There are 270-odd species of snakes in India, of which 60 are highly venomous. The big four dangerous snakes are Cobra, Krait, Russell’s viper and SawScaled Viper.
Snakes are also categorised into neurotoxic (where venom causes muscle paralysis, which may result in respiratory difficulty and death) and haemotoxic snakes depending upon their venom. The priest gives short shrift to such distinctions.
“There are deadly snakes, some are less venomous and there are non-toxic as well. Our volunteers, who are between 18-30, do not care about their own safety and suck the venom out. Sometimes, volunteers get blisters in mouth,” he adds.
On their recovery, he says, “They recover fully in days after they apply ash mixed with coconut oil. To date, they have been fine. They are young boys from the village.”
One of the volunteers, Pardeep Kumar says, “Our parents never object to our sewa (sucking venom out of victims).”