86 chapter
too awkward to discuss—but the countermeasures that were necessary were
more explicit.
However, few of the patients my assistants and I interviewed who had used
mantravādam in the past said they found it helpful. On occasion, they experi-
enced some relief after mantravādam, but their problem usually returned.
Even patients who said their problems were due to sorcery did not report
that mantravādam provided relief. Th e brother of a middle-aged Muslim man
Kavitha and I spoke with at Beemapalli said his family believes that he is
affl icted by a spirit sent by kshudrum or black magic/sorcery. Th e family tried
mantravādam, but it did not help. Th e brother complained of all the money he
feels they squandered on mantravādans, and asserted that they will only pursue
relief at Beemapalli. Th is view of mantravādam may be aff ected by the fact that
I did not choose a mantravādan’s practice as a research site, and thus among
those who had used mantravādam I only met people who had a disappointing
experience and had moved on to another therapy.
A new charismatic Christian retreat in Th rissur District, central Kerala,
called Divine Retreat Centre, and popularly known as “Potta,” off ers another
healing option for people with medical and psychological problems. Th e
Divine Retreat Centre is a grandiose facility. Th e compound is like a small,
gated city, with lodging facilities, restaurants, allopathic medical services
and a huge amphitheater for prayer sessions and sermons. Employees at
Potta explained that each week several thousand people come to pray at the
center and many stay for a week or more at the Centre’s lodges and med-
ical facilities. One worker at Potta claimed that a third of their patrons are
“mental patients” or people with drug and alcohol problems, while others
come to seek assistance in coping with a variety of medical conditions or
other crises. Relief is sought through collective prayer sessions and listen-
ing to sermons either in the amphitheater or via TV monitors located in
the medical facilities. Only one affl icted person I interviewed had visited
Potta, but at the time of the interview she was seeking relief at Vettucaud
church. Potta is mostly frequented by people from central Kerala, although
the parents of Mary, a patient I met at the Government Ayurveda Mental
Hospital who will be introduced in the next chapter, visited Potta to pray
for their daughter.
Th ere are a variety of other temples, mosques and churches that possessed
people visit for relief, although they are generally not as large or as well-known as
Chottanikkara and Beemapalli. At many small, neighborhood temples, patrons
regularly come to appeal for divine assistance with their affl ictions, and there
are a number of self-appointed healers—often referred to as “faith healers”—
who have invented a healing philosophy or claim a divine connection. Th ese