In spite of revolutionary trends in orthopaedic treatment, the small village of Rachapalem, popularly known as Eesalapuram, on the outskirts of Puttur in the district, continues to attract over 200 patients a day from all parts of the country and abroad, as far as Singapore, Malaysia and West Asia.
The traditional bone-setting hospital, currently administered by four families of a Kshatriya clan, has its roots dating back to 1881, when Kesava Raju of the village reportedly discovered a “secret leaf” that would work miracles for broken bones.
Till date, the fourth generation descendants hold monopoly of the “secret leaf”, using its extract to treat patients, who have to get the other paraphernalia such as small bamboo scales, cotton cloth and eggs for setting right dislocated joints and broken bones.
Most sought after
The unique treatment gained prominence when the families continuing Kesava Raju’s legacy became the most-sought after ones during the World War I and World War II, travelling as far as Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand to treat the injured soldiers of the British Raj.
The hospital established at Rachapalem in the mid 20th century became cynosure of patients all over the country till 1980s, with the number of patients per day remaining close to a thousand.
In recent decades, the number has started dwindling. Modern orthopaedics had made deeper inroads into the traditional domain. With mushrooming of private allopathic hospitals, the Puttur Kattu had to bear the onslaught.
The hospital, with eight expert bone setters from four families, continues to be abuzz with patients.
Pratap Raju, a fourth generation bone setter, who served as vice chairman of Puttur municipality, says their profession is divine. “During the last one and half century, the success rate remains more than 80%. We have the unique gift of locating the problem, the position required for setting the broken bone or joint. We apply our medicine (the leaf extract) on the affected area after setting the bone, and with the support of bamboo scales, we tie the part with piece of cotton cloth coated with egg-white.”
His colleagues said that in the absence of anaesthesia, the bone setting was a harrowing experience, but the patients would forget all pain once the job is over.
VIP list
Some of the notable patients who underwent the procedure included former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao, actor Krishnam Raju and the former President V.V. Giri. They take pride to say that a case of broken skull was also treated successfully. “Publicity by way of word of mouth is our strength,” they maintain.
Interestingly, except for the younger generation of these families, a majority of them were not educated. With just a couple of graduates, the younger generation too stayed away from plans of pursuing modern medicine.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams administers a dormitory for the patients at Rachapalem. Except this, the hospital receives no assistance from any quarter. Though the allopathic doctors vehemently criticise the Puttur Kattu as an unethical practice, the traditional families claim that they never opposed modern medicine.
The families admit that the health insurance policies and modern education among public has had a telling effect on their profession. But, they are confident that the “secret leaf” would never fail them.
