Sanjeevani booti or Sanjivani (Sanskrit: संजीवनी, romanized: Sanjīvanī) or the Mrtasanjivani (Sanskrit: मृतसञ्जीवनी, romanized: Mṛtasañjīvanī) is a medicinal herb featured in the Hindu epic Ramayana.
According to Hindu mythology, the herb is capable of curing any woe irrespective of its type and origin.
The herb is mentioned in the Ramayana when Ravana’s son, Indrajita, hurls a powerful weapon at Lakshmana, younger brother of Lord Rama.
Lakshmana is badly wounded, and is nearly killed by this attack.
In the Kamba Ramayanam, Jamwant instructs Lord Hanuman to fetch the sanjeevani herb by flying to the northern side of Mount Meru, where he would find the Nīla-mahāgiri, the great blue mountain, beyond which he would find the Ṛṣabhādri, the ox-shaped mountain, with two peaks. The mountain that bears the sanjeevani is also called the Oshadhiparvata.
This mountain is described to bear four medicinal herbs, including sanjeevani. In certain texts it is written that sanjeevani glows in the dark.
However, unable to identify the herb specifically, and due to time being of the essence, Lord Hanuman lifts the entire mountain and carries it to the unconscious Lakshmana, who is healed after its application.
The herb, believed in Ayurvedic medicine to have medicinal properties, has been searched for unsuccessfully for centuries, up to modern times.
The mountain of herbs is identified as the Valley of Flowers near Badrinath in Uttarakhand on the slopes of the Himalayas.
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. The Ramayana mentions a mountain believed to refer to the Dronagiri range, where the magical herb is supposed to grow.
Uttarakhand established a Department of AYUSH in November 2014 for wellness of people. The search and research of sanjeevani booti is a part of its activities.