Gautama, Pushya A (2025) What’s traditional about traditional medicine? Contemporary notions of “tradition” and “modernity” among vaidya-s of rural Bengaluru. Asian Anthropology.
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What s traditional about traditional medicine Contemporary notions of tradition and modernity among vaidya-s of rural Bengaluru.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (1MB) |
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| Abstract: | This paper discusses two apparently conflicting notions of “tradition” and “modernity” among “traditional” healers (pāraṃparika vaidya-s) in rural Bengaluru, India. On the one hand, notions of “tradition” among healers pertain to a pristine past, reconstituted from the unfavorable conditions of the present that is limited by the constraints of modernity. On the other hand, “tradition” is also dynamic, adaptive and evolving in the here and now, and is therefore an essentially “modern” and transformable contention. The paper begins with a brief discussion on the complex and ambiguous framing of “traditional medicine” and goes on to explore the situation of pāraṃparika vaidya-s within this complex medical space. It then explores pāraṃparika vaidya-s’ pragmatic and internalized notions of tradition and modernity using two lenses, (a) healers’ narratives and (b) modernizing traditions, and concludes with a discussion on healer–plant engagements. |
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| Item Type: | Journal Paper |
| Subjects: | School of Humanities > Consciousness Studies |
| Divisions: | Schools > Humanities |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Jan 2026 05:04 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Jan 2026 05:04 |
| Official URL: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16834... |
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| Funders: | * |
| Projects: | * |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1080/1683478X.2025.2596489 |
| URI: | http://eprints.nias.res.in/id/eprint/3035 |
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