Saturday, December 03, 2011

Siddha Home Remedies: Medicinal Uses of Seenthil Kodi

Seenthil is an herbaceous climber that grows in plenty in the foot of hills in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand etc. This climber is known by the name of Guduchi in Sanskrit. It is also called amirthavalli, kundali, somavalli etc in various parts of India. There are three varieties of seenthil, known as seenthil, por seenthil, paey seenthil or agaaya garudan, also known as kollan kovai. The mature parts of the climber have immense medicinal value. It gives out yellow flowers during the month of May - July and matures into fruits in September – December periods.

The great Siddha sage Theraiyar makes mention of this wonderful herb in his songs. Patients suffering from diabetes can benefit immensely by using seethil climber to their advantage. The leaves of this climber can be used for this purpose. The seenthil climber leaves are collected, washed and then dried in shade for a couple of days. It is then powdered to a fine consistency and taken in the mornings and evenings. A teaspoonful of this powder in a glass of water would be the recommended dosage.

Seenthil climber 50 grams, coriander 5 grams, adhimadhuram 5 grams, fennel seeds 5 gm, paneer flower 5 gm are boiled in 500 ml water, allowed to cool for a couple of hours and then filtered. 50 ml of this seenthil steeped decoction is taken thrice a day for gas, indigestion and stomach problems.

Seenthil sakkarai is a kind of salt obtained from this climber. Seenthil sakkarai is well known for its medicinal value in Siddha world. It has the potential to heal kapha diseases and well as a good number of skin diseases, especially of the itching and oozing types.

Kashayam made of seenthil tubers (seenthil kizhangu) induces appetite. For this, seenthil tubers are dried in shade and powdered to a coarse consistency. A spoonful of this powder is boiled in four glasses of water and reduced to one glass. People who suffer from loss of appetite, abdominal colic, indigestion, fever etc can take this kashayam twice a day till the conditions improves.

Seenthil leaves are useful in treating non healing wounds and ulcers. The leaves are softened over heat and then crushed to obtain the juice. This is then applied on the wounds and ulcers. Regular application helps in healing of these wounds.

People suffering from the effects of a vitiated pitta can make use of seethil leaves to pacify pitta. Vitiated pitta leads to vomiting of bile, vertigo, loss of appetite, skin irritation, yellowish tinge to the skin, lethargy etc. One well known preparation to pacify pitta is a kashayam using seenthil kodi 15 gm, parpadaagam 15 gm, vettiver 15 gm, sandalwood 15 gm, korai kizhangu 15 gm, sitramutti 15 gm, dried ginger (chukka) 15 gm. These ingredients are ground together and then boiled in one litre of water and reduced to half. This is taken twice a day, morning and evening. This is prepared fresh every day. This preparation pacifies the aggravated pitta and restores the harmony of vata, pitta and kapha.




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