Lakshmikutty ( Malayalam: ലക്ഷ്മിക്കുട്ടി , born 1943) is a tribal woman from Kallar forest area at

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

who received the India's fourth highest civilian honour

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

for her breakthrough in practicing traditional medicine.

Early life

Lakshmikutty is a famous poison healer practicing traditional medicine. She also received

Government's Naattu Vaidya Ratna award in 1995. She is practicing traditional medicine for over 50 years. She belongs to Kaani tribe and can remember more than 500 varieties of medicine. She has attained the education of 3rd forum and knows

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. She also writes poems, dramas and is a teacher in

Kerala Folklore Academy Kerala Folklore Academy is an autonomous center for cultural affairs constituted by the Government of Kerala and works under the Department of Cultural Affairs. It was established on 28 June 1995 to promote and project the traditional art forms ...

. Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

spoke about Lakshmikutty's contributions in his monthly

Mann Ki Baat ''Mann Ki Baat'' (, ) is an Indian radio programme hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he addresses the people of the nation on All India Radio, DD National and DD News. Since the first show on 3 October 2014, there have been 97 epi ...

radio programme. People fondly refer to her as ‘Vanamuthassi’ (Grandmother of the jungle in Malayalam) and she gives lectures on natural medicine at various institutions across the southern states.

References

{{Authority control Living people People from Thiruvananthapuram 1943 births Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine Traditional medicine practitioners Traditional medicine in India Malayalam poets