Bhopal: After immunity-boosting medicines, food and drinks, immunity-boosting herbal sarees have hit the Indian markets. The makers of the sarees claim that an assortment of herbs and spices have been used in the manufacturing process that will give the wearer of this nine-yards an increased defence against viruses and flus.
The sarees named 'Ayurvastra' are being made and sold by the Madhya Pradesh Handloom and Handicrafts Corporation under the supervision of a textile expert from Bhopal.
According to the corporation, the sari cloth is first treated in a herbal mix for 48 hours. The mix includes cloves, cardamoms, star anise, mace, cinnamon, black pepper, royal cumin, bay leaves which are grounded and boiled together.
After the cloth is treated, it's washed in flowing water that is also infused with medicines to further alleviate the medicinal property of the cloth.
In the last stage of manufacturing, the cloth is cut, printed and refined. The cost of one sari starts from Rs 3,000.
"All these processes require extensive craftsmanship and expertise to make the finished products of the desired quality," said Vinod Malevar, the textile expert.
He added that it takes about five to six days to make one sari and the idea of it came from the old Vedas (ancient religious texts) which mentions extensive uses of herbs and spices for immunity-boosting.
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"We have incorporated the ancient style of infusing the herbs and medicines in the saris in the manufacturing process and so far, we have gotten a good response from people," Malevar added.
So far, the Ayurvastras were only available in Madhya Pradesh. However, from August 30, several other Indian markets including Goa, Mumbai, Noida, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kalighat, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad will start selling the medicated herbal sarees.
"36 centres of handloom and handicrafts have been set up at different places across the country under the name of Mrignayani Emporium where these sarees will be sold," Rajiv Sharma, Handloom and Handicrafts development commissioner said.
Talking about the effectiveness of the sarees and claims made by the corporation, Dr Nitin Marwah, Head of Department (HOD), Pandit Khushi Lal Sharma Ayurveda College, Bhopal said, that in terms of increasing immunity, since ancient times herbs and spices were used.
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"However, it remains to be seen how the sarees will do in terms of boosting the skin immunity," Marwah told ETV Bharat.
"The Vedas have extensive mention of the tradition of using herbs, spices to develop a defence against diseases and flus and if the MP corporation is claiming something, hopefully, they have some basis for that," he added.
