Transcript Part 1 - National Heritage Trust Sri Lanka

The National Trust – Sri Lanka
PUBLIC LECTURE
BY
Prof. Leelananda Prematilleke
Prof. Arjuna Aluvihare
27/10/2011
1
A Twelfth Century Monastic Hospital
at Polonnaruva
and
Medical and Surgical Equipment found
therein
Leelananda Prematilleke
Arjuna Aluvihare
27/10/2011
2
• Prehistoric beginnings
of medical practice
• Use of wild plants with
herbal properties
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• Use of stone
implements for
“surgical” needs
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• Sumerian culture of the 2nd millennium B.C.
• Mummification in Egypt
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• Beginnings of medical practice and
philosophy
• The Greek period
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The beginnings of the art of
healing in China
• Chinese text ‘Chi Lu’
• A text on methodologies in the treatment of
diseases and injuries
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India
• Vedic period : ‘Rg-veda’
• Surgical methods of
amputation and
extraction
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• The last of the 4
vedas
• With mass of
information on
medical practice
• Medical properties
of herbal plants
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Period of the Buddha
• Well organized system of ayurveda
• 4 basic tenets
– Disease
– Cause of disease
– Cure of disease
– Method of curing disease
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• Tenets of ayurveda and the 4 Noble Truths
– Suffering
– Cause of suffering
– Cessation of suffering
– The way to end suffering
[Frauwallner 1953: 184; Gombrich 1988: 58]
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Buddha treating the sick
The monastic medical practice
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Asoka period (3rd century B.C.)
• Foundation of institutions for the treatment of
men and animals in India
• Girnar rock edicts of Asoka
[Bhandarkar 1925: 275-77]
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Spread of Buddhist culture
• Buddhists get the honour of establishing
hospitals for the first time in history
[Copleston bishop ]
• Indian Buddhist culture influencing
neighboring countries, including Sri Lanka
• Absorption of medical practice
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14
Sri Lanka
• Commencement of the urban civilization of
Anuradhapura in the 4th century B.C.
• King Pandukabhaya
– Established Sivikasala and Sotthisala
[Mahavamsa X: 192]
• Foundation of medical institutions and
convalescent homes
• King Duttagamini
– 18 institutions for medical treatment
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[Mahavamsa XXXIII: 37-58]
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• King Buddhadasa (4th
century A.D.)
• Skilled physician and
surgeon
[Mahavamsa XXXVII: 112ff, 145]
• Authorship of
Sararthasangrahaya
• Establishment of village
hospitals
• Medical seminaries, eg.
at Nalanda
[Sankalia 1934 : 70]
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Polonnaruva period
• Parakramabahu I
– Reputed medical practitioner and teacher of medical
lore
– “ He, the all-wise summoned the physicians
appointed there (hospital), tested in every way their
healing activities and if their medical treatment had
been wrongly carried out, he met them with the
right method, pointed it out to them, as the best of
teachers and showed them the proper use of
instruments by skilfully treating several people with
his own hand“ [Mahavamsa LXXIII : 34-48]
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• Secular medical institutions not found
• Reason – built with less durable material?
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Monastic hospitals
• Parallel to medieval Church infirmaries
[Canaught 1959: 21]
• “It is to Gotama and his followers that we
owe the hospital idea”
[Editorial, British Medical Journal 2:1928]
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• Definition of plots in the monastic plans for
the hospital (Rogalaya)
[Jayasuriya, Prematilleke, Silva: in Manjusri Vasthuvidya Sastra]
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The monastic hospital at Mihintale
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21
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ALAHANA PARIVENA HOSPITAL AT
POLONNARUVA
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Excavations at
Polonnaruva
In progress
After
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Hospital after conservation
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Plan of
Polonnaruva hospital
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Attached toilet
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• Hospital designed to allow maximum
ventilation
• Uncrowded open space
• Open verandah connecting the living cells
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• Hospital premises cordoned off by a wall
• Easy access to hospital
• Hygienic conditions and pleasant outlook
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• Medicinal trees such as Margosa (Kohomba)
and Cassia Fistula (Ahala) planted in hospital
premises
• Garden environment and relief of ‘hospitalphobia’
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• Excavated artifacts include medical equipment
and surgical instruments
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Medicine trough
• Also found at
Anuradhapura,
Mihintale,
Madirigiriya and
Dighavapi
• Treating the patient
immersed in herbal
juices or oils
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Medicine trough
• The Thupavamsa, refers to the immersion of
patients up to the level of the nose in medicinal
oils
• Treating snake-bite patients in wooden troughs is
continued even today
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• Charaka Samhita, the compendium of Indian
medicine, refers to the treatment of patients
by this method
• Yogaratnakara also provides measurement
details of such troughs
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Grinding stones found at the site
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Storage jars for oils
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Bronze micro-balance
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Spoon
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Bronze Probes
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Surgical instruments
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THANK YOU
Prof. Aluvihare’s presentation will follow
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45