Project report on Naadi Jyotish by Alex Avdeeff of IFP

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Dear Friends, Reference my previous post on the progress on Naadi Palm leaves collection census by the French Institute of Pondicherry. I happened to read the following abstract of project reports by PHD scholar Shri. Alex Avdeeff.I have requested Dr T. Ganesan Sr. Researcher in the IFP to provide complete thesis on the subject for the benefit of all members of this group and public in general.I request all group members especially, Tamil speakers and residing nearby Pondicherry to meet Dr. T. Ganesan in person and request to hasten the project report. For more info see link <www.ifpindia.org/ecrire/upload/abstracts/alexis.pdf>French Institute ofPondicherry Social Sciences Societies & Medicines inSouth Asia: Comparative Studies The masters of destiny. The Nadi astrologer and the therapeutic dimension of astrological healing in today's Tamil Nadu Alexis Avdeeff (Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales) Studies concerning the practice of the jyotish have, regrettably, never interested Western scholars. Work on this topic is indeed rare. Although astrological consultation represents a very important part of the medical and psychiatric traditions of India, it remains insufficiently explored. This is the reason why I intend to study the contemporary practice of nadi jyotish in Tamil Nadu, through several months of field investigation. I shall concentrate on the Nadi tradition of astrology as practised in Tamil Nadu by the Valluvars. This research aims at studying the Valluvar cast and its tradition of nadi astrology, as well as describing and analysing the therapeutic role of the Valluvar astrologers in contemporary Tamil society. Thus I intend to analyse the role of astrological consultations in the therapeutic process, as well as to evaluate the place of the astrologers in the local therapeutic network, both traditional (Siddha doctors, Ayurvedic doctors, gemologists, alchemists, mantravadis and kodangis) and biomedical (biomedical doctors, psychiatrists). Finally, it would be interesting to study the relationship of astrology to cosmological concepts as well as other fundamental traits of the Hindu philosophical and religious tradition, such as the notions of destiny, free will, karma and rebirth. This project on the practice of the nadi jyotish today will allow a better understanding of the traditional therapeutic systems of contemporary India as well as of the belief systems to which they pertain.