NASIR YOUSUFI
Srinagar: 21st March is known for its cultural and traditional significance throughout the world. Apart from being observed as a world plantation day and Novruz, In Kashmir the day is celebrated in a unique way.As the Shia community in particular observe the occasion with religious fervor. There is a sizable portion of the people who mark the day as a leech therapy day in the valley.on the occasion people in droves can be seen bee lining the therapists practicing leech therapy in different parts of the valley.
People standing in que waiting for their turn to go through the procedure is a common sight at many places in the valley. At Dargah Hazratbal, scores of people throng to the Practioners to get the therapy.
“ Once during my school days, my mother had taken me to the therapists at Hazratbal, to cure my acnes. Now it is for the second time , I intend to vist the spot to go through the procedure again, almost 30 year later ”, says Mohammad Shakir from Nishat Srinagar, who wants to get his foot sore cured from the leech therapy on Novruz.
Leeches have been used in medicine for over 2,500 years. They were more popular in earlier times because it was widely thought that most diseases were caused by an excess of blood. The leeches were used medicinally but only for the bloodletting. As recently as the 19th century, leeches were used to treat everything from tonsillitis to hemorrhoids . Believed to suck out impure blood only, they are traditionally used to cure frost bites, acne, hypertension, skin pigmentation, gout and blood clots. Widely used in medicine for drawing of blood from swollen area and also to reduce fluid pressures in damaged tissues of body. Medically, the leech saliva have been found to contain Hirudin, an anticoagulant that helps in thinning the blood.
Though the practice of leech therapy is very old, the tradition is still a common practice in Kashmir , particulary on Novruz. Many people in this part of the world believe that the best time to get the therapy is a Novruz.
According to Dr Parvez, a medical officer with Indian System of Medicine , the people taking to leech therapy particularly on Novruz is scientifically a coincidence, as the common belief of the people that the therapy is most effective on this particular day is not scientifically proven yet. But the trend in Kashmir plays an important role in the flourishing the age old practice , particularly in this period of the year. Traditionally, Leeches are used to cure the frostbite, skin diseases and other blood infections, as it is widely believed that the such suck out the impure blood from the body, explains Dr Parvez.
“I have also gone through the procedure during my youth. I often used to develop frostbites during winters in my teen age. My father used to take me for the leech therapy on Novruz. After few therapies, I was totally cured from the bites”, says Mushtaq Ahmad, a local businessman from Bijbehara as he returns after getting the therapy in Doru area in South Kashmir . Initially I thought it would be painful, but after I went through the procedure , I felt it quite comfortable and soothing, as the therapy purifies the blood from impurities and toxics, having a relieving effect on the body, believes Mushtaq.
Earlier people used to collect the indigenous variety of leeches from local water streams and rivulets , but now the people related with the trade get them from outside Kashmir. “ I have been practicing the therapy for many years now”, says Adil Ahmad, a young leech therapy practioner from Batapora area in the outskirts of Srinagar. Though, very less number of people do visit us for the purpose throughout the year, but there is a great rush of the patients seeking the therapy on the eve of Novruz and we prepare for the occasion days ahead. For this purpose, We get leeches from the leech farms outside the valley. Transported in special earthen pots, these healers are exclusively used the day of Novruz.Leeches are most energetic during this period . They suck to their optimum during these days, says the practitioner , while deliberating upon the possible reason for most of the people taking to leech therapy specially on Novruz.
While the world celebrates the occasion of 21st March in different contexts, people this Himalayan region of Kashmir also mark the day as an occasion to heal the diseases particularly related with blood and cure their bodies from the skin and orthopedic discomforts .
