Ilakkizhi

Preparation of potli:

First and foremost, the potli has to be prepared and for that, the fresh leaves are washed in water and chopped into small pieces. The leaves along with grated coconut & sliced lemon are mixed all together and fried in 100 ml of appropriate oil till coconut scraps attain a brownish tinge.

This preparation is then divided into four equal parts and made into potlis

(Average weight of a standard potli is 300- 350 gm).

Pre-operative Procedure:

• At the very beginning, you are asked to be seated with your leg extended over the body facing to the East.
• Abhyanga, which means massage in Ayurveda,  is performed with prescribed medicated oil over your body for about 10 minutes.
• Talam, which implies the administration of medicated oil or churna in the head is also applied.

Procedure:

• After the preparation, the prepared potli is heated with suitable oil in a hot iron pan up to 42- 46° C. The temperature has to be checked and maintained uniformly.
• It is then applied after checking the temperature throughout the body with mild pressure in seven prescribed positions by two attendants standing on both sides of the droni.

Seven positions?  What are those??

• Sitting
• Supine
• Right lateral
• Prone
• Left lateral
• Supine
• Sitting

These are the seven positions in which the procedure has to be done in a methodically chronological order.

Attentive care is taken to maintain the temperature throughout the procedure by reheating the pottalis.