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        Siddha Vaidya system of health and rejuvenation has a long lineage and tradition in south India. It has been practiced for thousands of years in Tamilnadu and Kerala. Dravidian in origin, the whole gamut of its literature is in Tamil language. The basic concepts of the Siddha medicine are the same as those of Ayurveda.

        Tradition has it that there were 18 Siddhars. They were Nandi, Agasthiyar, Thirumular, Punnakkeesar, Pulasthiyar, Poonaikannar, Idaikkadar, Bogar, Pulikai isar, Karuvurar, Konkanavar, Kalangi, Sattainathar, Azhuganni, Agappai, Pumbatti, Theraiyar and Kudhambai. Agasthiyar is considered to be the greatest of them all. He was the founder of the Siddha system of medicine and originator of the Tamil language.

About two hundred works in Tamil on Siddha medicine have rich and varied alchemical ideas. Of special importance are Amudakalaijnanam, Muppu, Muppuvaippu, Muppucunnam, Carakku, Guruseynir, Paccaivettusutram and Pannir-kandam by Agastya; Kadaikandam , Valalai-Sutram and Nadukandam by Konganavar ; Karagappa, Purva, Muppu-Sutram and Dravakam by Nandisvar; Karpam and Valai-Sutram by Bogar etc. Thus the Siddha system is basically a regional variant of Ayurveda, conditioned by the local Tamil culture and tradition.         Although the basic concepts of the Siddha medicine are almost similar to Ayurveda, the only difference appears to be this that the Siddha medicine recognises the predominance of vatham, pitham and kapam in childhood, adulthood and old age respectively, whereas in Ayurveda it is totally reversed: kapam is dominant in childhood, vatham in old age and pitham in adults. According to the Siddha medicine system, diet and life style play a major role not only in health but also in curing diseases. This concept of the Siddha medicine is termed as pathya and apathya, which is essentially a list of do's and don'ts.        Dr Cannigaiper Subramaniya Uthamaroyan (1906-1992) belongs to this ancient tradition of Siddha medicine. Nineteenth January, 2006, falls the birth centenary of Dr C S Uthamaroyan, who was a great teacher and outstanding practitioner of Siddha medicine for more than 60 years from 1930 to 1992. In the medical history of Tamilnadu, his family has indeed an honoured place. It was his father Dr C Murugesa Mudaliar who started the first scientific Siddha course in the School of Indian Medicine at Landon's Garden on Poonamallee High Road, Chennai. The Viceroy of India honoured him with the title of Vaidya Ratna in 1911 in recognition of his signal contribution to Indian medicine.

Dr C S Uthamaroyan  (1906 - 1992)

       Dr Uthamaroyan after completing his school education at Hindu Union Committee School joined the L I M course in the School of Indian Medicine. He was very keenly interested in scientific research relating to arthritis in all its aspects, dimensions, manifestations and ramifications. He was specially involved in the field of study of rheumatoid arthritis. Within a very short period, he was awarded the Certificate of Higher Proficiency for his research work in the management of arthritis. He was appointed as a lecturer in Siddha medicine and subsequently elevated to the post of professor of Siddha and Head of the Department in the School of Indian Medicine. After nearly three decades of dedicated work there, he retired in 1961.

        In 1958 the students in the School of Indian Medicine went on a hunger strike raising the demand that the School of Indian Medicine should be converted into a regular Allopathic Medical College. The then Government of Madras ordered the opening of the Kilpauk Medical College in the same premises where the School of Indian Medicine had been functioning earlier for several decades. The School of Indian Medicine in Madras was also upgraded into a college and shifted to Palayamkottai. In 1967, six years after his retirement, Dr Uthamaroyan was recalled by the Government of Madras and appointed as the principal and chief warden of the College of Indian medicine at Palayamkottai. In 1970, when Government of Tamilnadu created the Department of Indian Medicine, Dr C S Uthamaroyan was appointed as the first director of Indian Medicine in 1970.

        Early in his career in the School of Indian Medicine in Madras, Dr Uthamaroyan established his reputation as an excellent clinician and an outstanding teacher. One of the greatest failures of our contemporary training system of teachers is that they function as mere technicians, soulless and spiritless. They do not know and even if they do know, are not committed to the beliefs, motives, ideals and values for the sake of which their profession exists and the classroom in which they teach exists. Dr Uthamaroyan was a great teacher and the secret of his successful teaching lay in his inborn genius to teach accurately, thoroughly and earnestly. He loved his students, trained them well and they carry his mantle which keeps his fame alive. He was able to impart an element of interest and liveliness to his classroom teaching and awaken the attention of students to all his instructions. Aristotle had teachers like Dr Uthamaroyan in view when he wrote in 4th century BC: 'Teachers, who educate children, deserve more honour than parents, who merely gave them birth; for the latter provided mere life, while the former ensure a good life. That is why a great teacher affects eternity. You can never tell where his influence stops'.

        Dr Uthamaroyan was the author of many books on Indian medicine in Tamil, the most notable of which were Siddha Vaidhya Thirattu and Maruthuva Bharatham which are used as handbooks everyday by all the students of Indian medicine.

Dr C Murugesa Mudaliar (1860 - 1935)

His passion for field medical research was indeed astounding and inexhaustible. Like U V Swaminatha Iyer, who went from village to village in search of old Tamil palm leaf literary manuscripts in the Madras Presidency in the closing decades of the 19th century, Dr Uthamaroyan also went from village to village to gather palm leaf manuscripts and other ancient documents relating to Siddha medicine. He went to several villages located in the hills in Tamilnadu by bullock-cart and many times even by trekking to gather information about medicinal plants and Siddha drugs. He tirelessly worked with great enthusiasm and dedication for the advancement and growth of Siddha medicine till the end of his life. He also worked at the Central Research Institute of the Indian Medicine and tried to build a scientific bridge between Siddha medicine and modern medicine along with the legendary physician Dr Ratnavelu Subramaniam.         The crowning achievement of his life was his appointment as the professor of Siddha system at the Tamil University of Thanjavur in his 80s. There too he continued his life's mission of adding to and enriching the literature of Siddha medicine.         Dr Uthamaroyan was awarded the title of Vaidya Ratna at Benaras. He served as an honorary physician to the President of India.Dr Uthamaroyan was happily married to Rajakanteeswari who supported him throughout his life by qualifying for the certificate of RIMP. He died on 24 August 1992; a sad day indeed in the history of Indian medicine. His illustrious son is Prof Dr C U Velmurugendran, who is a senior professor of Neurology and a senior consultant. Following the family tradition, Dr Velmurugendran's son Dr C V Shankar Ganesh is a neuro-surgeon.

        Dr Uthamaroyan was a great lover of learning with a passion for Tamil language and Tamil literature. He used to attend all the Tamil literary meetings, where he played a stellar role in trying to clearly interpret and explain the basis of many ancient Siddha books written in the form of archaic and esoteric poems. Thanks to his intellectual and academic leadership at these meetings, many practitioners of Indian medicine were able to get a clearer understanding of some of the major ancient classics in the field of Siddha medicine. He was keenly interested in Carnatic music and bharatanatyam.

        Some of his well-known contemporaries were Dr V Narayanaswamy, Dr T P Rajagopal, Dr C N Kuppusamy Mudaliar, Dr Kasirajan, Dr Thyagarajan, Dr Venugopal, Dr Subhan, Dr S K Khadri, Dr J R Krishnamurthy, Pandit S S Anandam Pillai, Dr Ananda Kumar, Dr Khalifatullah, Dr G Veluchamy, Dr Jayaprakash Narayan and Dr Parameswaran.

        His honesty, transparency, and love for humankind were deeply appreciated by one and all who had an occasion to have any acquaintance with him. He disliked shoddiness, triviality, ostentation, stridency, vulgarity and opportunism of every sort. He detested rudeness and he was upset by lack of manners in others. He prized privacy and personal relations above all. He was gentle, dignified and wholly uncompetitive. He was sensitive to the feelings of others, particularly those who, like himself, wished to walk by themselves and found it difficult to fit in with established social patterns. At the same time he was a warm and affectionate friend. The word 'integrity' might have been invented for him. His motives were so completely free from any touch of calculation, his sincerity was so evident, that his apparently simple statements or questions in any intellectual discussion, penetrating as they often did to the heart of some debated issue, tended to have a devastating effect. His words were listened to with respect and on rare occasions when he felt genuinely moved, he always carried the day. The independence, the scrupulous regard for the truth, the shining impartiality of his judgement, were unique moral assets to every society in which he was a member. The name of Dr Uthamaroyan is already a legend in the field of Indian medicine throughout the country.