CHARUMOODU: If people in Alappuzha are bitten by snake, they rush to meet Thamarakkulam Vedaraplavu Chekkottuthara Amma aka Rajamma.

This old granny has brought more than 20,000 snake-bite victims back to life. The kind of treatment administered to nullify the effect of snake poison has a tradition that spans more than seven decades.

The treatment is done using strange Ayurveda treatment mix. There has also been incidents wherein a victim who lay unconscious for about 30 day had been rescued.

Even at the age of 85, Rajamma continues her ‘God-assigned’ duty, braving her old-age ailments. Interestingly, she will never ask for treatment cost. One can offer ‘dakshina’ as he wishes. The food and accommodation for bystanders are free.

Rajamma also figures in the list of traditional Ayurveda practitioners finalised by Travancore-Kochi administration in 1957. She has however passed down the knowledge of the treatment regimen to Jayasree and Yamuna, two of her four daughters. Teachers by profession, both are carrying forward the tradition.

Rajamma is the daughter of Kollam Poruvazhi Chemmattu Kizhakkethil Velayudhan Vaidhyar, who is famous for traditional treatment of snake-bite patients.