World Siddha Day[edit]After former Chief Minister Karunanidhi's Announcement of

Tamil New Year's Day as World Siddha Day, the First World Siddha Day was celebra
ted on 14 April 2009, addressed by his Excellency Shri Surjit Singh Barnala, Gov
ernor of Tamil Nadu.[16] The 2nd World Siddha Day was celebrated in a grand mann
er on 14 April 2010, at Image Auditorium, Adyar, Chennai; more than 2000 student
s, post graduates, practitioners and traditional vaidyas participated in the cel
ebration.[17] In connection with the celebrations, a website was also launched.[
18] The 3rd World Siddha day was celebrated at Trivandrum, Kerala, where Siddha
Doctors Met on the 14th and 15 April 2011.
Basics[edit]Generally the basic concepts of the Siddha medicine are almost simil
ar to ayurveda. The only difference appears to be that the siddha medicine recog
nizes predominance of Vaadham, Pitham and Kabam in childhood, adulthood and old
age, respectively, whereas in ayurveda, it is totally reversed: Kabam is dominan
t in childhood, Vaatham in old age and Pitham in adults.
According to the Siddha medicine, various psychological and physiological functi
ons of the body are attributed to the combination of seven elements: first is oo
neer (plasma) responsible for growth, development and nourishment; second is che
neer (blood) responsible for nourishing muscles, imparting colour and improving
intellect; the third is oon (muscle) responsible for shape of the body; fourth i
s koluppu/Kozhuppu (fatty tissue) responsible for oil balance and lubricating jo
ints; fifth is elumbu (bone) responsible for body structure and posture and move
ment; sixth is elumbu majjai (bone marrow) responsible for formation of blood co
rpuscles; and the last is sukkilam (semen) responsible for reproduction. Like in
Ayurveda, in Siddha medicine also, the physiological components of the human be
ings are classified as Vaadham (air), Pitham (fire) and Kabam(earth and water).
Concept of disease and cause[edit]It is assumed that when the normal equilibrium
of the three humors (Vaadham, Pittham and Kabam ) is disturbed, disease is caus
ed. The factors, which assumed to affect this equilibrium are environment, clima
tic conditions, diet, physical activities, and stress. Under normal conditions,
the ratio between these three humors i.e.:(Vaadham, Pittham,Kabam) are 4:2:1, re
spectively.[19]
According to the siddha medicine system, diet and lifestyle play a major role, n
ot only in health but also in curing diseases. This concept of the siddha medici
ne is termed as pathiyam and apathiyam, which is essentially a list of "do's and
don'ts".