Internal Medicines in Siddha Medicine or Ulmarunthu

There are 32 types of Internal Medicines in Siddha Medicine

1.  Surasam :

Pure and clean leaves, root, bark, flowers, unripe fruits and raw drugs like inji (ginger) are taken,ground in kalvam, filtered in a cloth, juice is extracted, poured into a mud vessel and boiled for some time so that the water content is greatly reduced. Eg- Inji Surasam

Life span : Surasam can be taken within 3 hrs of preparation.

2.  Charu : (juice)

This is the extract of leaves, root, bark, flowers, unripe fruit which is obtained by pounding and filtering or by adding astringent substances or by heating process Eg : Leaves of Adathoda vasica are pounded and filtered to extract the juice.
Flesh of Aloe vera or banana are mixed with astringent substances and then juice is extracted.
Garlic or poondu is made into a paste, pasted or placed on a cloth and heated to extract the juice.

Life span : Charu is taken within 3 hrs of preparation.

3.  Kudineer : (decoction)

This type of internal medicine is prepared by adding water to the pounded dried raw drugs or fresh ones and then boiling the same. The water added is according to the amount of raw drugs and the method of preparation. On boiling, the water content is reduced to 1/2 , 1/4 , 1/6 , 1/8 , 1/16 , 1/32 etc. The intensity of heat and reduction of water content depend upon the type of raw drug used. Eg : Adathodai kudineer

Life span : Kudineer is to be taken within 3 hrs of its preparation.

4.  Karkam : (medicinal paste)

This type of medicine is prepared by making a paste of fresh raw materials or dried raw materials by adding water in a kalvam. Eg : Keezhanelli ilai karkam

Life span : Karkam is to be taken within 3 hrs of its preparation.

5. Utkali or Utkalee :

This type of preparation are dry superficially or outer surface and the inner contents are wet. This is prepared by using raw or boiled rice, fried and ground to flour or by grinding the black gram into a paste, or by powdering seeds and adding water to it and mixing with required amount of jaggery. It is then heated by keeping the paste in a mud pot till it reaches kalippu patham ie the paste becomes dry superficially, then little ghee is added and taken when the medicine doesn’t stick to our hands. Eg : Kadugu utkali

Life span : 3 hrs

6.  Adai :

Certain leaves along with rice flour are ground into a paste, coated with little ghee and baked in hot oven.
E.g : Mudakattran Adai used in vatha ailments

Life span : 3 hrs.

7.  Choornam : (Medicinal powders)

The raw drugs are purified separately, and then pounded separately, seived, mixed according to a given ratio.
The choornam is purified again by pitttaviyal process.
Eg : Amukkara choornam

Life span : 3 months.

8. Pittu : (Baked flour)

The drugs are purified and pounded separately, made into fine powders. It is then mixed and placed in the inward depression of a cloth piece which is tied over the mouth of the mud pot containing milk and water. The pot is closed with another pot and baked until vapour comes. This is pittaviyal process. Then the pittu is taken in a mud pot and mixed well with sugar or jaggery.

Life span : 3 months

9.  Vadagam :

Raw drugs purified and pounded separately, seived in a cloth. This choornam is then added to jaggery and mixed well. It is then processed by pittaviyal process. Then the pittu is taken, pounded when it is hot and rolled into small pills.
Eg : Thaleesathi vadagam

Life Span : 3 months

10. Vennai :

The required raw drugs are taken, powdered and heated in an iron spoon along with ghee – twice the quantity of raw drugs. When the raw materials melt completely and combines with the ghee, it is poured into a mud vessel containing water and churned well. The medicine which floats over the water as emulsion is Vennai. It is collected and preserved.
Eg : Kungiliya Vennai

Life Span : 3 months.

11.  Manapagu : ( Syrup)

Some herbal drugs like flowers, fruits, each separately made into decoction or fruit juices taken separately boiled by adding sugar or jaggery till a sweet aromatic odour comes , then powdered raw materials are sprinkled over it.
Eg : Mathulai manapagu

Life span : 6 months

12.  Nei : ( Medicated Ghee)

This type of internal medicine is prepared by adding cows ghee to certain individual leaf juices, juice of tuber or decoctions of herbs and tubers and boiling it till the raw drugs completely mix with the ghee and is in perfect stge of ghee. Then it can be filtered and taken or preserved.
Eg : Adathodai nei

Life span : The nei is best to be used within 6 months.

13.  Rasayanam :

This type of medicine is in semi- solid form. It is prepared by adding jaggery or ghee to choornam prepared by certain raw drugs.
Eg : Inji Rasayanam

Life Span : 6 months

14. Ilagam or Leghyam :

This type of preparations can be prepared in two ways. In the first type, some decoctions or herbal juices are mixed together with required amount jaggery and boiled in mild fire. When a sweet aroma comes and the mixture attains paagu patham, fine powders or choornam prepared by certain raw drugs are sprinkled in it, then ghee is added to it and mixed well. At last it is removed from fire and honey is added, mixed well.
In the second type, sarkarai or jaggery is addedto required amount of cows milk and boiled in mild fire till paagu patham reaches and sweet fragnance comes. At this stage honey is addded, mixed well. After the mixture becomes half cooked, medicinal powders or choornam is added followed by ghee and honey.
Eg : Amukkara choornam

Life span : 6 months

15. Ennai or Nei : (Medicinal Oils)

Ennai means oil extracted from gingilee oil. Oil extracted from seeds, barks, herbs ar termed is termed as nei. Nei is usually classified into 12 types according to its source, birth or origin.
1. Kothi Nei : (Ghee obtained by boiling process)
Eg : Castor seeds fried, pounded, mixed with water and boiled.
2. Urukku Nei : ( Ghee obtained by melting)
Eg : By melting butter or boiled egg yolk.
3. Puda Nei or Kuzhipuda Nei : ( Ghee obtained by pudam process.)
Substances like Semicarpus anacardium (Serankottai) or Indigofera aspalathoides( Sivanarvembu) are taken in a mud pot which contains pores in the bottom. The mud pot is then closed by mun seelai. This is kept over a porcelein vessel inside a pit and heated by pudam. The oil is collected in pocelein jar.
4. Theeneer Nei :
Aromatic substances like sandal wood is pounded into powder, put in a pot containing water, the mouth of pot is closed using a cloth, filtered and oil obtained.
5. Sooriya puda Nei or Aadhava Nei :
Some substances along with Ell or Sesame seeds are ground well to a paste and placed in hot sun. Ghee coming out is collected.
6. Man Nei :
The oily substance which come out from dry surface of Earth spontaneously.
7.Mara Nei :
Ghee or oily substance obtained from cut part of the tree.
8. Silai Nei :
Oily substance that flows from high mountains.
9. Neer Nei :
Punugu chattam or ghee obtained by civet cat is soaked in water and oily substance collected.
10. Aavi Nei :
Ghee obtained by cooling the aromatic vapours coming out from substance like benzoin which is heated in a mud plate.
11. Sudar Nei :
Substances like sulphur are ground with ghee according to the mentioned process and pasted over a cloth which is already soaked in water, squeezed and dried well. This cloth is then tied well along a long piece of iron rod and held above the fire. Then nei as sudar is collected.
12. Pori nei or Iyanthra Nei :
Oil obtained by putting the seeds like sesame in oil mill.

According to mode of administration Nei is classified into five types :

1. Mudi nei or Oil applied on head Eg : Keezhanelli thylam
2. Kudi nei or Oil which is used as internal medicine Eg : Vallarai ennai
3. Pidi nei or Oil massaged over the skin Eg : Ulunthu thylam
4. Tholai nei or Oil applied in navadvarangal Eg : Nasi roga nasa thylam
5. Seelai thylam or Oil applied over fistulus tracts or skin diseases Eg : Mathan thylam.

Life Span : 1 year

16. Mathirai : (Pills)

Certain drugs are ground well with herbal juices or decoctions, ginger juice, breast milk etc till it the mixture becomes ine enough to be rolled in form of pills and dried. Mathirai means “measure”. So the size of the pill is according to the dose and method of preparation according to the classical texts. The hours of grinding the mixture may vary in each medicine. Usually it is round in appearance.
Eg : Balasanjeevi mathirai given for fever.

Life Span : 1 year

17.  Kadugu :

Certain medicinal drugs along with ghee or oil and heated till the mixture attains the consistency of mustard, it should be cooled. The karkam can be intaken and oil can be applied externally.

Life Span : 1 year

18. Pakkuvam :

The materials to be processed as Pakkuvam are soaked in raw rice water or rice water. After it softens subsequently it is soaked in buttermilk, lemonjuice, inji juice, leaves juices etc.
Eg : Bhavana kadukkai

Life Span : 1 year

19. Thenooral :

Substances like inji (ginger), nellikai (gooseberry), kadukkai (gall nut) are first soaked in water, holes are made on the surface with needle or thorn
and then subsequently soaked in honey or jaggery syrup.
Eg : Inji Thenooral

Life Span : 1 year

20. Theeneer : (Distilled medicated water)

Such drugs are prepared in a special apparatus called Valai yanthiram(Distillation apparatus). This type medicine prepared by boiling the raw materials with water in valai. The vapour of medicated water is condensed and collected as Theeneer.
Eg : Oma Theeneer
Salt or Uppu varieties may be taken in valai and heated. This is called Pugai neer or Dravagam.
Eg : Pottiluppu Dravagam

Life span : 1 year

21. Mezhugu : (Medicated wax)

This type of medicine is prepared by grinding the raw drugs to mezhugu pakkuvam or waxy state. These are of two types
1. Araippu mezhugu : This type of mezhugu is obtained by grinding certain mercurial compouds seperately or with other raw drugs by adding herbal juices or honey to a perfect stage of mezhugu. Eg : Rasaghendhi mezhugu
2. Surukku mezhugu : This type of mezhugu is obtained by heating mercurial drugs or padanam and added with oily substances or juices and made into mezhugu and ground well. Eg : Mahaveera mezhugu

Life span : 5 years

22. Kuzhambu : (Medicated Liquid mixture)

Certain juices either mixed or separately taken in a pot along with jaggery and choornam or fine powders of certain drugs, heated to kuzhambu pakkuvam or semisolid form. Eg : Agasthiyar kuzhambu

Life span : 5 years

23. Pathangam : (Sublimation)

Rasam individually or together with mercurial compounds are mixed and placed above a layer of salt and brick powder in a mud pot. This is placed in the moosai and added and covered with salt, top of the pot is closed with another pot, seelai done, kept in an oven, heated for a specific time, according to the burning method, it should be removed without shaking the medicines which is settled inside the top pot. This medicine is collected carefully. Eg : Rasa pathangam

Life span : 10 years

24. Chendooram : (Red chemical medicinal preparation)

Certain metallic substances, toxic substances are made into red colour microfine powder by the process of burning or roasting or exposing to sunlight or grinding with herbal juice, dravagam or by pudam process etc. Eg : Chanda marutha chendooram (prepared by grinding method).

Life span : 25 years

25. Parpam : (otherwise called Neeru or Veneeru)

Certain ulogams, padanam or uparasams are made into white powder by process of burning or frying or by grinding with juices or pudam process. This is an ancient method of calcination process and the process differs in preparation of each medicine as the number of pudams, hours of grinding, hours of burning may vary. Eg : Silasathu parpam

Life span : 100 years

26. Kattu :

Certain padanams individually or mixed is given surukku with dravagams, leaf juices, decoctions, breast milk or honey. The substance finally turn into a consolidated solid mass which never vapourise dissolve or melt. Another process of making kattu is grinding the parpam or chendooram with juices of mothers milk and rolling into kattu. Eg : Linga kattu

Life span : 100 years

27. Urukku :

Certain ulogas or padanas are prepared as kattu then added with synergetic or antagonistic drugs, kept in moosai, closed, seelaimunn done , burnt with natural charcoal fire, cooled and taken.

Life span : 100 years

28. Kalangu :

Drugs like mercurial compounds or padarasam is given surukku with leaf juices, jayaneer, dravagam, then subjected to pudam, consolidated kept in moosai heated with the help of cahrcoal and blown till they turn into beads or mani, then gold and zinc are added.

Life span : 100 years

29. Chunnam :

Padarasam, padanam or ulogam seperately or mixed are grounded well with leaf juices, dravagam, jayaneer and dreid, kept in moosai, blown and made into white powders. They become red when added with turmeric as the contain lime. Eg : Vediuppu chunnam

Life span : 100 years

30. Karpam :

Certain leaves, roots, salts and mineral compounds are consumed in a specific dose for a given period of time along with dietery regimen. They may be already prepared or daily prepared ones. Karpam are prepared from mooligai, dhathu and jeeva products.

Life span : No expiry or life long

31. Sathu :

Certain drugs like powders of iron, magnetic iron, organic and toxic substances are ground well with egg white, kept in moosai, seelai done, burnt with the help of thuruthi. Vangam is got. With that, gold, mercury and sulphur are added, ground and made into chendooram by burning.
Eg : Kadukkai sathu

Life span : Life long

32. Guru gulikai :

Valai rasam is made into kattu or beads by adding certain drugs to it along with herbal products.
This is the most extra-ordinary preparation in Siddha system as mercury being at liquid state at room temperature is made into a bead or a solid mass. This type of medicinal preparation is a hallmark of an able physician and wearing of this bead brings good fortune. A physician if meditate and pray with this bead are beleived to to be guided and blessed by Siddhars and hence any deadly ailment gets a cure. It is said that learning to tie a mercurial bead is not only an art but it needs the blessings of ancient gurus or Siddhars.

Hence Siddha System of Medicine consists of these 32 types of unique preparations. The medicines are prepared with prayers and mantras which is chanted by the physician throughout the preparing process. Hence the efficacy of these medicines are very high. They are not only medicinally but also spiritually enriched.