Currently, Tulunad has made remarkable advancements in medicine. Private hospitals have sprung up in various places across the Tulunad. However, a hundred or two hundred years ago, there wasn’t even a hint of modern medicine here. At that time, India’s ancient Ayurveda was prevalent. Remedies like kasturi, dhanvantari, and chinnè pills served as household elixirs.
One remedy still in existence is the pain-relief oil by Kadenja Thyampanna Bhandary, known to everyone, though few know about his background.
A small village called Adyar, situated on the banks of the Netravati River on the outskirts of Mangalore, was home to Kadenja Thyampanna Bhandary, a bone healer. For issues like fractures of the hands, legs, and hip, he would apply an Ayurvedic oil he personally prepared. For patients who traveled from afar, he constructed the Nityananda Chikitsalaya (Nityananda Treatment Center) by the riverbank for them to rest, offering free treatment. This facility could accommodate up to 50 patients at a time. Bhandary would personally massage the oil and set fractures for those with joint injuries.
Only once the bones had healed did he send patients back to their homes. He lived to the age of 82, devoting his life to this service.
After his passing, his son-in-law, Timmappa Rai, continued his work. Today, Kadenja Thyampanna Bhandary’s pain relief oil is renowned not only throughout the district but also across the country and abroad.
— Rajesh Ferrao