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Selaginella bryopteris - Sanjeevani
In Hindu mythology, sanjeevani is a magical herb which has the power to cure any malady. It was believed that medicines prepared from this herb could revive a dead person. The herb is mentioned in the Ramayana when Ravana's son Indrajit (Meghnad) hurls a powerful weapon at Lakshmana. Lakshmana is badly wounded and is nearly killed by Indrajit. Hanuman was called upon to fetch this herb from the mount Dunagiri (Mahodaya) in the Himalayas or Valley of Flowers. Upon reaching Mount Sumeru, Hanuman was unable to identify the herb and decided to lift the entire mountain and bring it to the battlefield.[1]
The herb, believed in Ayurvedic medicine to have medicinal properties, has been searched for unsuccessfully for centuries, up to modern times.[1] The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in northern India committed an initial 250m rupees (£2.8m) of state money to search for sanjeevani booti starting in August 2016. The search was focused on the Dronagiri range of the Himalayas near the Chinese border, even though there is no evidence for its existence.
