Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge: Sanjeevini Booti

Cee’s Flower of the Day for June 7th is the Blackberries with a side of flower.  This is my twenty first photo challenge post for the Flower of the Day Challenge and it’s in response to the Flower of the Day Challenge by Cee Neuner. These are the beautiful flowers that I have chosen for Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge for June 7th, 2020. Since I have been watching the Hindi shows Kehet Hanuman Jai Sri Ram & Ramayana I have decided to talk about Sanjeevini Booti.  Here’s a link to Cee’s blog https://ceenphotography.com/2020/06/06/fotd-june-7-blackberries-with-a-side-of-a-flower/

Selaginella bryopteris (Devanagari:संजीवनी) is a lithophytic plant that is native to India. It is used medicinally in India and is one of the plants that is considered as a candidate to be the sanjeevani (also called “Sanjeevini”or “Sanjivini Booti”) plant.

The popular name sanjeevani translates as “one that infuses life,” and derives from a plant that appears in the Ramayana story. Other medicinal plants are also called sanjeevani. The botanical identity of the plant described in the Ramayana is unclear, although Selaginella bryopteris has been suggested as a candidate.

Sanjeevani grows on the hills of tropical areas, particularly in the Aravalli Range of mountains in India. Traditional uses include relief from heat stroke, dysuria, irregular menstruation, and jaundice, but the effectiveness has not been scientifically validated. It is also useful for coma patient by way of inhalation.

In Hinduism, the word Sanjeevani can refer to a plant or to a mantra (a chant) or to a system or method. The description below describes Sanjeevani as a magical herb or plant. There is also a Sanjeevani chant in Hinduism which is believed to be able to bring a dead person back to life.

According to Hinduism Sanjeevani Booti is a magical herb which has the power to cure serious nervous system problems. It was believed that medicines prepared from this herb could revive situations where death is almost certain. The herb is mentioned in the Ramayana when Ravana’s son Indrajit (Meghnad) hurls a powerful weapon at Lakshmana. Lakshmana is badly wounded and is nearly killed by Indrajita. Lord Hanuman was called upon to fetch this herb from the mount Dronagiri (Mahodaya) or Gandhamardhan hills, far to the north of the Vindhyas on the slopes of the Himalayas. The mountain of herbs is identified as the Valley of Flowers near Badri in Uttarakhand on the slopes of the Himalayas. It is sometimes called Gandhamardan, and at other times Dronagiri. Upon reaching Dronagiri Parvata or Gandhamardan, Hanuman could not identify the herb and lifted the whole mountain and brought it to the battlefield.

Several plants have been proposed as possible candidates for the Sanjeevani plant, including: Selaginella bryopteris, Dendrobium plicatile (synonym Desmotrichum fimbriatum), and others. A search of ancient texts at CSIR laboratories did not reveal any plant that can be definitively confirmed as Sanjeevani. In certain texts it is written that Sanjeevani glows in the dark.

The herb, believed in Ayurvedic medicine to have medicinal properties, has been searched for unsuccessfully for centuries, up to modern times. The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in northern India committed an initial 250m rupees (£2.8m) of state money to search for Sanjeevani Bhooti starting in August 2016. The search was focused on the Dronagiri range of the Himalayas near the Chinese border. The Ramayana mentions a mountain believed to refer to the Dronagiri range, where the magical herb is supposed to grow. Uttarakhand established a Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush) in November 2014.

Dendrobium plicatile is an orchid species of Asia. It was formerly treated as Flickingeria fimbriata in the (no longer accepted) genus Flickingeria.

The orchid is native to Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, Malesyia, and other regions.

It is found in: Borneo, Cambodia, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Himalayas East, India ( Assam), Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Nepal, Nicobar Islands, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam.

The plant reportedly has the Hepatoprotection properties, the ability to prevent damage to the liver.

From the stems, three phenanthrenes can be isolated, named plicatol A, B and C.

The plant also contains the norditerpenoids named flickinflimilins A and B and steroids.