Essence of Srivaishnavam Practices - Manjal - Kungkumam (Kungumam)

Turmeric is the most IMPORTANT & AUSPICIOUS substance in every Hindu function. Haldi is a commonly known name in every household. No Celebration or auspicious function begins without haldi (turmeric) or kum-kum (kungumam).  One must know its full potentials and reason for giving much importance to it.

All of us are well aware that yellow color paint is generally used to for all public utilities such as signal poles, taxis, public telephone, road divider lines etc. Yellow is the prime eye catching color and it has cooling stimulation in the brain. That's why the road signals are given amber in between Red & Green as to caution one's mind.

According to Ayurveda, (a science dedicated to herbals & naturals) Haldi the Turmeric plays vital role in day to day life. It is the only ingredient used for all type of cooking agent . It is a natural skin conditioner, heals cuts, burns and wounds etc. Turmeric is used as a main and basic formula for all health & Skin care products .It is also used as main and basic substance for skins Ointments.

Each and every one of us emit brain wave and The wavelength differs from person to person. And to regularize the wave length Hindu women used to apply kungumam ( kum kum) made out of pure turmeric. Also It is very difficult to hypnotize or mesmerize a person who applies Turmeric spot regularly in one's fore head. In addition to this, the benefit of regularizing ones own brain wave length is activated for those apply it regularly.

The Sri Vaisnava Brahmins from South India applies turmeric paste in a vertical line in their fore head. It is believed that this strengthens their brain wave length and also it avoids scattering wave and sends signals in a focused manner.

As per the Hindu custom & practice each and every auspicious function begins with turmeric and I am no exception. Hence Aye do open my Web site with HALDI-KUMKUM (Manjal - Kungumam) (TURMERIC). Now let us see what the researchers have said about the Haldi aka Turmeric:

Grandma recommended GOOD OLD turmeric even can cure epilepsy, too, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have found.

They have also found it effective in boosting memory and reducing stress.

Research carried out on rats at the department of pharmacology at AIIMS has yielded positive results. "Epilepsy requires long-term anti-epileptic drug (AED) therapy, which is advised according to symptoms. However an effective prevention or cure for epilepsy hasn't been available and many drugs in use have side-effects," said Dr K. H. Reeta, assistant professor of pharmacology at AIIMS.

According to her even new classes of AEDs are not free of side- effects. Phenytoin is a commonly used AED that has been found effective against all types of seizures. But it also causes cognitive impairment (a condition in which thinking abilities are badly affected) in patients as it damages essential macromolecules of the body, including DNA.

"Toxicity is common in patients of epilepsy treated with phenytoin, and thus requires careful drug-level monitoring and supportive care," said Dr Yogendra Kumar Gupta, head, pharmacology department, AIIMS. "The goal of AED therapy is freedom from seizure without side-effects. But this hasn't been achieved. The reasons for this include misdiagnosis of the type of seizure and prescription of the wrong AED," Reeta said.

" Phytochemicals (chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants) have been shown to possess a wide range of properties that facilitate effective treatment without side- effects.

Therefore, we investigated the effects of administering turmeric to rats that suffered from phenytoin-induced cognitive impairment and oxidative stress (the process in which highly reactive molecules such as free radicals impair particular cellular functions)," Dr Jogender Mehla of AIIMS said.

The research team found that turmeric, when administered orally with phenytoin, significantly prevented cognitive impairment and oxidative stress.