Sanjivani is the stuff of myth: an herb that glows in the dark and has the power to revive the dying, wrenching them back from the fog of unconsciousness. In the Ramayana, a sacred Hindu epic, the herb is used to resuscitate both the god-hero Rama and his younger brother Lakshmana.

Could it really exist? A government minister in the Indian state of Uttarakhand wants to mount an expedition to find out.

Surendra Singh Negi is the state’s minister for alternative medicine, and he says he is worried that continued forest fires in the Himalayas may be wiping out rare and valuable plant life. You can tell that the hills of Uttarakhand are abundant in medicinal plants, he says, from the fragrant smoke that the fires give off.

Medicinal herbs are central to the traditional practice of ayurvedic medicine in India. But little has been done to scientifically study and preserve the medicinal herbs of the Himalayas, Mr. Negi says. So he has proposed spending 250 million rupees ($3.75 million) of tax money to send a team of ayurvedic practitioners into the mountains.