Siddha Home Remedies: Medicinal Benefits of Thulasi (Holy Basil)

Herbs have been used in religious ceremonies since time immemorial.  Arugampul (Bermuda grass), vilva, neem, thulasi are some examples.  Thulasi or Holy Basil is the prasada given to devotees in Indian temples.  Thulasi thirtha or holy water infused with thulasi leaves is beneficial to both body and mind.

Thulasi is a kayakalpa herb.  It grows to a height of 75 centimeter to a meter with small hairy leaves and hairy stem.  It has white flowers and small black seeds. Siddha and Ayurveda medicinal systems make use of thulasi to treat fevers, vomiting, dysentery, malaria, bronchitis etc.  Unani medicinal system uses thulasi to purify blood, treat heart conditions and cool the body.

Tulsi is used in treating

•     Ailments of chest including cough, cold, bronchitis
•     Fevers like malaria, pneumonia and influenza
•     Heart conditions
•     Cholera, dysentery
•     Migraine
•     Asthma
•     Smokers cough
•     Inflammation of lungs
•     Blood pressure
•     Abdominal distention
•     Liver diseases
•     Hemorrhoids
•     Anal itch
•     Skin diseases
•     Leprosy
•     Head lice
•     Menstrual disorders
•     Poisonous bites
•     Nail infections

Thulasi for Children

Thulasi or holy basil is known to clear chest congestion in infants.  For this infants are fed milk mixed with juice of tulsi leaves.  This also helps cure indigestion and loose watery stools in kids.  One method to treat whooping cough in infants - collect mature dry tulsi leaves and flowers, long pepper and sweetflag in equal quantity by weight.  Grind and powder all the three to a fine consistency.  Half a teaspoon of this preparation is mixed with honey and given twice a day.

Thulasi for Asthma

Four tulsi leaves and four vilva leaves along with four peppercorns are taken first thing in the morning on empty stomach.  This is thoroughly chewed and then swallowed down.  This helps ease labored breathing of asthmatic patients.

Thulasi for Heart

Juice obtained from thulasi leaves is mixed with honey of equal quantity.  A spoonful of this is taken in the mornings on empty stomach on a regular basis.  This is found to benefit irregular palpitation and strengthen the heart muscles.

Tulsi for Lungs

Fresh tulsi leaves are crushed to obtain 25-50 ml of juice.  This is added to ginger juice of same quantity.  A spoonful of this mixture is taken with honey for a month or two depending on the intensity.  This is found to bring down inflammation of lungs.  This relieves asthma, cough etc.  In case of influenza, a pinch of powdered cloves and salt are added to tulsi steeped water and taken three times a day.

Tulsi for Teeth

Tooth cavity and diseases of gums can be taken care of with the help of thulasi.  Press powdered thulasi leaves, powdered cloves and a pinch of camphor on affected tooth.  The same preparation can also be used as a tooth powder.  This takes care of inflamed gums and removes bad breath.

Thulasi home remedy for Bloody Hemorrhoids

Juice obtained from crushed thulasi leaves 250 ml is added to kuppaimeni juice of equal quantity.  Castor bean oil 250 ml is added to this mixture and boiled thoroughly to remove the moisture content.  50 ml of the resulting oil is taken at night for a week.  This is found to relieve hemorrhoids.

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Siddha Home Remedies: Medicinal Uses of Karpooravalli

Karpooravalli (Mexican Mint) or Omavalli in Tamil is a herb often used to treat cough and cold.  The botanical name is Coleus aromaticus.

Stuffy nose, body pain, neck pain, headache, cough and cold are some ailments that predominately affect almost everyone during the winter season.  One of the herbs much sought after to treat these conditions is karpooravalli (coleus aromaticus).  It can be grown in the home garden just like the holy basil.

The karpooravalli herb has a hairy stem and thick hairy rugged looking but soft leaves with toothed edges.  The leaf has an astringent taste.  The mature leaves of the herb has good amount of menthol which helps in reducing the inflammation due to phlegm in chest.  It is a herb used in treating all types of cough, as well as an excellent expectorant.  it induces sweat and brings down the temperature in fevers.

Karpooravalli for Children

The medicinal property of the leaf can be utilized in a number of time tested ways.  Thoroughly cleaned karpooravalli leaves can be put in boiled and cooled drinking water and then filtered off after 1-2 hours.  By this time the water would have turned slightly greenish.  This water can be given to children for drinking purposes.  Doing this for a couple of days brings down the intensity of cough and cold in children.

One well known method of treating tough chest phlegm in kids is as follows.  Collect equal quantity of karpooravalli and holy basil leaves.  Saute the leaves slightly and then crush them to collect 5-10ml of juice from the leaves.  This is given twice a day, both morning and evening after food.  Regular intake for a week expels even the toughest of phlegm in a gentle painless way.

Karpooravalli for Adults

Karpooravalli, thoothuvalai, vallarai leaves of equal quantity are collected dried and powdered.  One spoonful of this powder is taken in 150 ml water and boiled and reduced to 75 ml.  A bit of palm jaggery is added to this decoction to taste.  This preparation is taken twice a day to strengthen the lungs.  Asthmatics can experience marked improvement in their  labored breathing with regular intake of this remedy.

Also juice of karpooravalli leaves taken with honey in the mornings can help cure runny nose, phlegm, cough, throat infection etc.

Karpooravalli Herbal Powder

This can be prepared as follows.  Take karpooravalli leaves, adathoda leaves and dry them in shade.  Thippili and sitharathai are taken in equal quantities and fried in small heat.  All these are powdered to a fine consistency.  This powder is taken with honey three to four times a day for a couple of days.  This takes care of cold, cough, and phlegm and clears the airway passage.

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Medicinal Uses of Cactus Flower, Shenbaga Flower, Pichi Flower

Prickly Pear Cactus Flower Remedies

Flowers of prickly pear cactus are used medicinally to treat various disease conditions. Prickly pear cactus belongs to the cactus family and is known as paddle cactus for its resemblance to the ball and paddle toy. The delicious fruit obtained from this cactus is called tunas. It is grown widely in Europe, Middle East, USA, Mexico, South America, India and in many other countries. Mexico exports a large quantity of this plant to Japan as herbal medicine. This resilient shrub grows well in arid conditions.

The prickly pear cactus flowers have the ability to cure hemorrhoids. For this purpose the flowers are dried in sun. The dried flowers are then placed on the piles and tied with a white piece of cloth. This is repeated for a few days. This is a simple Siddha home remedy for hemorrhoids.

Cactus flowers are ground to a fine paste using a few drops of water. A thick paste is then applied on toenail fungus. This is continued till a complete cure is obtained. This is a painless home remedy for nail fungus.

The paste prepared as mentioned above is also an excellent remedy for joint pains, especially of the toes and foot. A thin layer of this paste is applied on the painful joints.

Shenbaga Flower Remedies

The botanical name for shenbaga poo is Michelia champaca. It belongs to the ancient family of Magnoliaceae that dates back to 95 million years. The Indian folk medicine uses remedies from this flower to treat many diseases.

A kashayam is prepared using shenbaga flower buds along with poppy seeds, fenugreek and pepper. This is an excellent remedy for phlegm in chest. This kashayam is taken twice or thrice a day for a couple of days depending on the intensity.

This flower is a coolant. Shenbaga flower soaked coconut oil is applied on head and allowed to remain so for ten to fifteen minutes and then washed off. This is found to cool down the body.

Pichi Flower Remedies

Pichi flower is a well known coolant used extensively in South India. The heady scent of this flower relieves headaches. Females suffering from headaches can adorn their hair with these flowers; regular usage is found to relieve them of headaches, earaches, shoulder pains and pains in the nape. Pichi flower strings can be used for this purpose.

Pichi flowers are dried in sun and then added to coconut oil. Regular application of this oil on the body results in smooth and soft skin with no blemishes. The oil can be applied on head for 10-15 minutes and then washed thoroughly. This cools the body and mind.

For treating blackheads the flowers are soaked in lemon juice. Frequent splashing of this flower soaked juice on the face of the face is found to be effective in removing blackhead.

One simple and effective Siddha home remedy for acne and pimples is to make a fine paste of pichi poo or pichi flowers and sandalwood. Application of this finely ground paste on acne and pimples results in rapid and effective relief.

Consuming a few pichi flowers raw in the mornings on an empty stomach help in clearing up a bloated tummy.

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