The popular name for it is the "Dhammika Paniya."
When self-proclaimed healer Dhammika Bandara announced late last year that he had discovered an herbal remedy that would not only cure COVID-19 but also provide lifelong immunity to the disease, he became an overnight sensation in Sri Lanka. According to Bandara, he learned how to create his life-giving syrup from a dream in which the goddess Kali appeared to him and told him how to "save the world." Though all the ingredients remain a mystery, social media suggests that most of them, including honey and nutmeg, can be found in any household.
While cases of COVID-19 had been relatively stable in Sri Lanka for most of 2020, the number of new infections began rising sharply in October. According to World Health Organization statistics, known coronavirus cases had risen from 3,380 with 13 deaths in early October to 22,988 with 109 deaths by the end of November (latest statistics put it close to 90,000). As a result, COVID anxiety rose to an all-time high in Sri Lanka and left the public strongly receptive to Bandara's claims.
Despite being hailed as an "ayurvedic physician" by his supporters, there was no real evidence that the one-time stonemason had any actually training in medicine, something that mainstream medical practitioners and ayurvedic healers were quick to point out. Despite warnings about Bandara's wonder elixir (which has been officially classified as a food supplement), demand rose sharply when Sri Lanka's Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi openly endorsed him and was even photographed sipping a spoonful of his elixir. Numerous other government legislators did the same.
All of which led to thousands of Sri Lankans flocking to Kegalle, the town where Bandara lives, while ignoring the country’s social distancing regimen to get their own supply of the elixir. How many of these miracle seekers ended up being infected as a result of their enthusiasm may never be known.
Granted, Bandara isn't the first miracle worker that Wanniarachchi endorsed. In November, she dropped a pot of “miracle water” into the country's Kalu river after another self-styled prophet, Eliyantha White, promised that the water he blessed could end the spread of the virus across the country. She was so confident in this claim that she publicly pulled off her mask after the pot ceremony and insisted she she and her security details would be protected.
Which has led to considerable embarrassment given that Wanniarachchi has recently been diagnosed with coronavirus herself and has since gone into isolation, along with several other government figures who had also endorsed Bandara's elixir. Even as the government continues its drive to immunize the country's population, the suspicion that many people in Sri Lanka have towards Western medicine will likely do little to discourage the quest for miracle cures.
As for Bandara himself, he is dealing with his own legal woes as he faces assault charges after allegedly attacking a doctor who dared to argue with him at his Kegalle home. Police are still investigating.
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