Hanuman Jayanti marks the birth of Lord Hanuman. Also known as the 11th incarnation of Lord Shiva, he is worshipped by devout Hindus as Sankatmochan Mahabali (mighty saviour), especially in these trying times. Hanuman played an important role in the mythological tale of Ramayana. He helped Lord Rama to defeat Ravana who abducted Sita. However, besides his magnificent strength and vigour, he is also known to save the life of Rama’s brother Lakshmana, with the help of Sanjeevani Booti.
As per Hindu scriptures, Sanjeevani is described as magical herb or plant that can even revive a person on the verge of dying. The use of this herb has been mentioned in the Ramayana when Lakshmana is badly wounded after Ravana’s son Indrajita (Meghnada) hurls a powerful weapon at him, which nearly gets him killed.
In order to save his life, Hanuman das called upon to fetch this herb from the mount Dronagiri (Mahodaya) or Gandhamardan, far to the north of the Vindhyas on the slopes of the Himalayas. However, unable to identify the herb, he takes the entire mountain with him.
In the modern era, several plants have been considered as possible candidates for Sanjeevani. These include Selaginella bryopteris, Dendrobium plicatile (synonym Desmotrichum fimbriatum), Cressa cretica, among others.
To conduct research upon the same, Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in northern India committed an initial Rs 2.5 crore of state money to search for the herb, starting August 2016. “We have to try and it will never go to waste. If we are determined we will certainly find it,” Surendra Singh Negi, the state’s former minister for alternative medicine, told AFP.
That being said, the uses of the funds, its findings or research progress haven’t been shared until date.