Maharasnadi kwatha churanam is an ayurvedic powdered mixture of 26 ingredients, such as two parts of rasna, one part each of punarnava, guduchi, gokshura, satavari, pippali and so on. When I was preparing the mixture at home, I felt like some kind of an alchemist putting together a potent brew. Rasna, from which the churanam gets its name, imparts a delightful fragrance to the churanam. Rasna is known as sitharathai in Tamil. All the 26 ingredients are easily available at any shop that sells herbs for ayurvedic medicines, a Nattu Marunthu Kadai as it is called in Tamil Nadu.
A kwatha churanam is a coarsely powdered mixture of all the herbs. This is later boiled in water to extract the kashayam. Ready-made preparations are also available off the shelf, but I invariably prefer to make the churanam and the kashayam at home.
Almost everybody over the age of 50 suffers from one of the following—low back pain, painful knees, inflammation, rheumatic pains, arthritis, sciatica, neuritis, upper back pain etc. The Maharasnadi kashayam is an effective remedy against these ailments. For those who have leisure time at their disposal and like to make, their own herbal preparations, the recipe for the churna is stated below. It’s taken from the Sahasra Yoga: Kashaya Prakarana, an ancient literature on ayurveda. The text is popular among Kerala vaidyars and has also been translated into Tamil. The ingredients are listed in the table below with their scientific, Tamil and Malayalam names.
Recipe
Get 50 gm of Alpinia galanga, for rest of the ingredients, 25 gm is enough. Coarsely grind them and store the powdered mixture in an airtight container. Add a tablespoon (around 10 gm) of the mixture (churanam) to 2 glasses of water and boil to reduce the volume to a quarter glass. This should be taken daily, twice on an empty stomach. Maharasnadi is a wonderful cure for all types of vata complaints. Taking this kashayam for about 2 months helped me to overcome the numerous aches and pains for which allopathy has only painkillers to offer.
Scientific Name Tamil Name Malayalam Name
Alpinia galanga Sitharathai Rasna
Tragia involucrata Poonaikkanchoriver Choriyanamver
Sida cordifolia Sitramuttiver Kurunthottiver
Ricinus communis Aamanakku Aavanakku
Cedrus deodara Thevatharam Thevatharam
Curcuma zeodara Kicchilikkizhangu Cherukacholam
Acorus calamus Vasambu Vayambu
Adhatoda vasica Aadatoda ver Aadolotakam ver
Zingiber officinale Chukku Chukku
(Dried)
Terminalia chebula Kadukkai Kadukkai
Piper chaba (roots) Kandan Thippali Kandan Thippali
Cyperus rotundus Korai Kizhangu Kora Kizhangu
Boerhavia diffusa Mookkirattai Thazhuthamai
Tinospora cordifolia Seenthil Amrita valli
Argyreia nervosa Kadar-palai Samudrappachai
Anethum sowa Sadakuppai Sathakuppa
Tribulus terrestris Nerunjil mullu Gnerinjil
Withania somnifera Amukkura Kizhangu Aswagandha
Aconitum Athividayam Ativisha
heterophyllum (roots)
Cassia fistula (bark) Sarakkonrai Konna
Asparagus racemosus Thanneervittan Satavari
Kizhangu Kizhangu
Piper longum Arisi Thippali Thippali
Barleria prionitis Chemmuli Mulkkurinji
Coriandrum sativum Kotthamalli Kothampalari
Solanum virginianum Kandankathiri Kantakari
Solanum violaceum Mullukatri Cheru
vazhuthinai
The writer was earlier Health Secretary, Govt. of Tamil Nadu
and is currently, Principal Secretary and Chairman & Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation. She can be reached at Sheelarani. arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at www.arogyamantra. blogspot. com/