Himalayan state of Uttarakhand commits £2.8m for scientists to finally discover life-giving herb mentioned in ancient Hindu text

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A state in northern India is about to embark on a multimillion-pound search in the Himalayas for a mythical plant believed to hold life-saving properties.



Uttarakhand is committing 250m rupees (£2.8m) of state money to hunt for the the herb sanjeevani booti, which is credited in the ancient Hindu text Ramayana with restoring life to the brother of a god.

While many wild plants with medicinal properties grow in the Himalayas, there is scant evidence that sanjeevani booti ever existed. Ancient sages and modern researchers have searched for centuries and failed to find it.

“We have to try, and it will never go to waste,” said Surendra Singh Negi, minister at the department for for traditional medicines, yoga and homoeopathy in Uttarakhand. “If we are determined we will certainly find it.”

Negi said the search would focus on the Dronagiri range of the Himalayas near the Chinese border, where there is a mountain mentioned in the epic Ramayana as being the site where the magical herb grows.



“We have set an initial budget of 250m rupees for the project,” Negi said.

Scientists will start work in August, the minister said, adding that the central government has refused to fund the project.

Ancient texts say the plant has life-restoring properties, grows in the high mountains of the Himalayas and glows in the dark.

According to Ramayana, the monkey god Hanuman was tasked by the god Rama with fetching the herb after a healer said it would cure his dying brother Laxman.

But Hanuman failed to identity the plant, instead uprooting the entire mountain and carrying it thousands of miles to treat the mortally injured prince during a war with demons, in what is now Sri Lanka.

India’s 5,000-year-old medicine system Ayurveda, which uses herbs to cure ailments, has been revived under Narendra Modi’s government. The Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, abbreviated as Ayush, was established in November 2014.

• This article was amended on 3 August 2015. In an earlier version 250m rupees was converted to £28m.