Gorkha and Other Ethnic Herbal Medicines

Gorkha and Other Ethnic Herbal Medicines
Author: H. K. Pradhan
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2004-09
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 1581125100

Gorkhas are inhabitants of the southern foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and the adjoining plains. Using their own ethnic medicines they survived thousands of years in the chilly hills and sultry mosquito and fly infested regions below. H. K Pradhan belongs to this community. Noticing miraculous effects of some such medicines, yet in early teens, he started garnering their secret tips about 45 years ago. These tips/ medicines had gradually evolved at the least since as far back as 6 millennia. He came across medicines possibly learnt by chance, by trial and error, by observing animals using herbs as medicines, and some of them believed as learnt in dreams or even with the help of occult rituals. He was curious as to how such communities could know innumerable medicines even before modern science evolved. According to a hint in the Atharvaveda, the precursor of the Ayurveda, and the Ayurvedic nomenclature of the herb, a subgroup among the ethnic Gorkha community known as Kiratas, most of who worshiped spirits, had discovered the medicinal use of the Swertia chirata herb about six millennia ago. His association with the practice of the medicines made him wonder about the discovery of so many medicines without any scientific basis. Ultimately, he stumbled on some powerful category of shamans who are believed kidnapped in their childhood, taken possibly to the nether world and trained in Shamanism and herbal medicines by some mysterious spirit and not by human gurus. He now feels that this mysterious phenomenon also, if true at all, could be behind the huge collection of herbal medicinal tips among such tribes. This book contains over 500 detailed herbal formulations and an exclusive essay 'Bunjhankri' on the claim in first person of one such shaman, on how he was kidnapped at the age of six, taken to the nether world, trained for 86 days and left back at the very spot where from he was abducted, besides many hither to unknown aspects of herbs and herbal medicines.

Gorkhas and Gorkhaland

Gorkhas and Gorkhaland
Author: Barun Roy
Publisher: Barun Roy
Total Pages: 508
Release: 2012-12-25
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 9810786468

A comprehensive socio-political study of the Gorkha people and their demand for the separate state of Gorkhaland

The Gorkha Conquests

The Gorkha Conquests
Author: Kumar Pradhan
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 312
Release: 1991
Genre: History
ISBN:

The Conquests By Gorkha Forged The Present Kingdom Of Nepal And This Process Is Often Viewed By Historians Of Nepal As Being Constitute Of `National Unification`. This Work Is A Probe To See Whether Cohesive Elements Of Nation Building Were Present In The Past To Warrant Such A Description.

Three Fruits

Three Fruits
Author: Mary M. Cameron
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2019-04-24
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 1498594247

Mary M. Cameron first encountered an Ayurvedic medical practice in remote, western Nepal in 1978. In Three Fruits, Cameron traces Ayurvedic medical practices from those village healers to the professionally trained doctors in the Kathmandu Valley. An intimate portrayal of Ayurvedic doctors in Nepal during a period of political unrest and social change, Three Fruits connects the doctors’ care for Nepal’s valued medicinal plants to the boundless joy of health they desire for their patients. Combining ethnography with history and Indian philosophy, this detailed study weaves the elegant theory of tridosa (three humors) and the popular medicine trifala (three fruits) into the narrative accounts of doctors’ multi-sited practice. Aware of rising global alternative medicine and environmental movements, the doctors speak to their relevance for Ayurveda and sustainable, integrated, and culturally meaningful plural medicine in Nepal. This book is recommended for scholars of anthropology, sociology, Asian studies, history, philosophy, ethnobotany, public health, and environmental studies.

In Search of the Medicine Buddha

In Search of the Medicine Buddha
Author: David Crow
Publisher: Tarcher
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2001
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN:

Story of an American who travelled to Nepal in 1987 to learn Tibetan Buddhist and ayurvedic traditions.

Culture and the Environment in the Himalaya

Culture and the Environment in the Himalaya
Author: Arjun Guneratne
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2009-12-24
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1135192871

Drawing on Himalayan ethnography to interrogate and critique contemporary theorizing about the environment, this book examines how the environment is conceptualized among different social groups in the region. A new approach to the study of the environment in South Asia, this book introduces the new thinking in environmental anthropology and geography into the study of the Himalaya.

Wild Plants

Wild Plants
Author: Mahendra Rai
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2020-11-25
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1000220109

This book offers a broad summary of the wild plants and their usage, as well as the growing interest in ethnopharmacology research. The book comprises of important issues such as diversity of wild plants with emphasis on medicinal and food plants, threats to wild plants and traditional ethnobotanical knowledge, their uses in skin diseases, snake-bites, in cosmeceuticals, etc. Moreover, the ethnopharmacological relevance of wild plants in Latin America has been discussed. The chapters include a wide range of case studies, giving updated evidence on the importance of their wild plant resources from different countries including Peru, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Brazil. In addition, some specific species are used to explain their potential properties, as well as the dangers of their use without guidance of trained natural healers. The book discusses traditional usage and properties of wild plants and is entirely different from other related publications and useful for the researchers working in the areas of conservation biology, botany, ethnobiology, ethnopharmacology, policymakers, etc.

Plant-Based Functional Foods and Phytochemicals

Plant-Based Functional Foods and Phytochemicals
Author: Megh R. Goyal
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2021-03-30
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 100009023X

Plant-Based Functional Foods and Phytochemicals: From Traditional Knowledge to Present Innovation covers the importance of the therapeutic health benefits of phytochemicals derived from plants. It discusses the isolation of potential bioactive molecules from plant sources along with their value to human health. It focuses on physical characteristics, uniqueness, uses, distribution, traditional and nutritional importance, bioactivities, and future trends of different plant-based foods and food products. Functional foods, beyond providing basic nutrition, may offer a potentially positive effect on health and cures for various disease conditions, such as metabolic disorders (including diabetes), cancer, and chronic inflammatory reactions. The volume looks at these natural products and their bioactive compounds that are increasingly utilized in preventive and therapeutic medications and in the production of pharmaceutical supplements and as food additives to increase functionality. It also describes the concept of extraction of bioactive molecules from plant sources, both conventional and modern extraction techniques, available sources, biochemistry, structural composition, and potential biological activities.