Uttarakhand Health
Minister recently announced that he had made an appeal for funds to the Union
Health Minister to enable the State government to start seriously looking for
the mythological SanjivaniButi. We have no idea how seriously Delhi is
pondering on this proposal but this is not the first time that attempts have
been made to identify this mythological miracle herb.
Those familiar with the
Ramayana will recall that during the battle of Lanka, Laxman was mortally wounded
by an arrow shot by Ravan's brother Meghnad. The Lankan royal physician Susena
advised that the only way to save Laxman was by administering him some
lifesaving herbs that were available only in the Himalayas The herb
SanjiviniButi was one of them.
Hanuman was asked to
get the herbs but not being a physician himself, he got confused on reaching
Dronagiri hill with its profusion of different exotic herbs. So he did
exercised the only logical option of carrying away the whole hilltop so that
Susena could himself identify the required herbs. Laxman was saved but this
story of the life-restoring SanjiviniButi continues to exercise our interest
and imagination to this day.
But coming back to our
Health Minister's statement, we need to remember that AcharyaBalkrishna of
PatanjaliYogpeeth, Haridwar has already made the claim that SanjiviniButi has
been discovered and identified by a Patanjali team which visited Dronagiri
village in the Himalayas for that purpose in end 2008. However, the Patanjali team
was careful to couch its claims in ambigious language to convey that what the
team claims to be the Sanjivinibuti is the nearest that may be interpreted to
be the mythological miracle herb. The Uttarakhand government had also sent a
team to Dronagiri to search for the elusive miracle and it too came back with
ambigious reports.
The inhabitants of
Dronagiri village on the other hand, appear to be immune to all the excitement
that is exercising the minds of the rest of the world. For them life
goes on as usual in the idyllic village and they are satisfied in the knowledge
that the village enjoys the benevolent gaze and protection of
DronagiriParvatDev, the local deity. Of course even today they nurse
an atavistic grudge against Lord Hanuman for carrying away their
hilltop,because unfortunately that particular hilltop snatched away by Hanuman happened to be one of the shoulders of the
ParvatDev and for that reason Hanuman is not worshipped by the inhabitants
of the village.
Dronagiri village is indeed
blessed by ParvatDev by way of spectacular location and surroundings. The
mountainsides above the village are rich in high-altitude herbs and a
herbologist's paradise! Locals claim that it is common to see the monal(State
bird of Uttarakhand) and the bharal(State animal of Uttarakhand) in the fields
surrounding the village. Dronagiri is also on the way to the ChangaBanga peaks.
At a height of around
12,000 feet, Dronagiri village is totally snowbound during winters and its
inhabitants move to their winter villages(in winter, as you would have
guessed), and return back to Dronagiri in early May. This year, Dream Mountain
is scheduling a trek to Dronagiri area around end May or early June. The trek
package will include stay in Dronagiri village, visit to base-camp of
ChangaBanga, visit to Nandi Kund, exposure to local dance and culture and an
introduction to the local traditional knowledge in exotic himalayan herbs.
Those interested to
join in the trek can check for our detailed programme which will be
announced here. (http://www.dreammountain.net/fixed-trekking-departures/)
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