Lakshmikutty Biography 
Lakshmikutty is a traditional medicine practitioner and healer who was recognized by government of India in 2018 January through Padma Shree awards. She hails from an Adivasi colony of Kallar forest area of Kerala, and belongs to Kani tribal group. She practises traditional medicine from herbs and other plants available in forests and can make more than 500 herbal medicines for different ailments from her memory. This 74-year old forest doctor was facilitated by state government in 1995 through Naattuvaidya Ratnam award. She is an expert in local plants, and often takes classes in folklore academy. One of the less-known faces of remote Kerala, with the luminance of Padma Shri, her fame reached nationwide.
Lakshmikutty lives in a small hut in the remote forest areas of Kallar of Thiruvananthapuram. She was married to her cousin, Maathan Kani, and he died exactly two years ago in February 2016. She is the daughter of Chaathaadi Kaani and Kunju Thevi, a mid-wife. She lost her father quite young, and her mother strived hard to bring up 4 kids. After her marriage with her uncle’s son, it was her uncle who recognized her talents in traditional medicine field. He too was a local physician.
As of now, she has cured more than 300 victims of snake poison, and is quite famous for her excellence in healing poison. She had three sons, but lost two of them at younger age. Apart from patients from different parts of Kerala and other states, people from other parts of the world too reach Kallar for treatment. Not only that, she also helps students in research works of medicinal plants and has taken seminars in many big botanical institutions. She also published one book some time back, which capsulated her knowledge in local plants. She excels in poetry and writes dramas too.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 06, 2018
