News & Pics: Aishwarya Beejady
Daijiworld Media Network — Kundapur (RD/CN)

Kundapur, Jun 30: St Mary’s Arogya Kendra located at the foothills of the Western Ghats in Jadkal, near here, is a health centre where people bitten by poisonous snakes or reptiles are treated with Ayurvedic medicines. This is known as ‘stone treatment’.  The health centre has been serving the people since the past 30 years.  People from all over Karnataka and Kerala have got a new lease of life owing to the treatment at the health centre.

St Mary’s Arogya Kendra is located near St George’s Church, Jadkal, and is managed by Sr Lucia who serves as religious nun and has specialized in the treatment.  Sr Lucia hails from Kottayam in Kerala and has been treating the patients affected by poisonous snake bites and bites from other reptiles. She had learned the treatment in her childhood from her parents. 

A small portion of ground medicinal herbs are soaked in a jar of fresh cow’s milk.  The portions are removed from the milk, smashed into small pieces and placed on the legs.  The mixture will slowly absorb the venom from the blood stream.  The treatment can take from a week to a month depending on the bites or the species of snake or reptile. 

When the medicated bits drop off by themselves over days or months, it’s believed that the blood has been cleaned of all impurities.  The treatment is called medicated stone therapy. The patients must follow a diet and are under observation at all times.  There are hundreds of cases where the affected people were treated with allopathic medicines without success but were cured with the treatment at the centre. Sr Lucia, through her traditional treatment, has brought hope to both poor and rich patients over the past 30 years.  Sr Lucia does not charge any fixed amount for treatment but is happy to receive whatever the patients offer in acknowledgement of their healing.  Sr Lucia is supported by Sr Daisy. Sr Lucia does not reveal from where she sources the rare medicinal plants or the method of preparing the treatment.

All by the Grace of St Alphonsa:

“Along with our religious duties, we are treating the patients with Ayurvedic medicines.  We have been serving the people without expecting anything in return since the past 30 years. Many people are being healed.  The people living in the foothills of the Western Ghats are exposed to venomous snake bites.  This humanitarian task has indeed given us happiness,” says Sr Lucia.

The 10-bed Arogya Kendra has been a boon to poor people who come from distant places like Sagar, Shimoga, Udupi, and Mangalore.