Kerala is an herb basket, spice basket and produce basket! Valuable aromatics like cardamom, clove and black pepper had adventurers landing on Kerala’s shores as early as a thousand years before Christ. And Kerala is the source of thousands of pounds of Ayurvedic medicinal plants used in formulas consumed locally and all over the world. But don’t forget another aspect of Kerala’s botanical bounty: an amazing abundance of fruits and vegetables!

Tasty Papaya growing at Rasa Ayurveda

At Rasa Ayurveda, we serve Kerala cuisine, prepared according to Ayurvedic guidelines for each patient. Even during pancha karma, everyone enjoys a variety of tasty, easy-to-digest, cleansing and nourishing meals. Some fruits and vegetables possess distinctly medicinal qualities, like muringakku (drumstick), pavakku (bitter melon), nellikku (amalaki) and cheryaulli (shallot). I’ve counted at least 14 types of bananas here, some indicated for digestive upset, some for cooling the body, and more.

Bananas on the Tree at Rasa Ayurveda

When you come to Rasa Ayurveda, try to set aside a morning at the end of your stay to walk around the produce market. You’ll be amazed to discover edibles you never new existed…! In the topmost photo, you can see the veggies on offer at one small stand: red amaranth, garlic scapes, bitter melon,  three varieties of fresh chili, one of several varieties of green bean, carrot, tomato, bhringal (eggplant), ginger and tasty green mango. (Too many mango varieties to count here…!)

Far in the back–under wraps–is a big bunch of karrivepella – the fresh ‘curry leaf’ that brings so much fragrance to many Kerala dishes, while treating high cholesterol and parasites, too.

Muringella Dosa - stuffed with a highly nutritive (and tasty!) medicinal leaf

Kerala meals are made up of rich, multi-cultural culinary–and even spiritual–tradition. When you come to Rasa Ayurveda as a patient, or with a group trip or retreat thru AyurvedaTrip.com, you can enjoy impromptu cooking classes and an intimate introduction to the edible beauty of Kerala at every meal.

Looking forward to welcoming you to Rasa Ayurveda~

Niika Quistgard, CAS

Niika Quistgard :: Jul.07.2010 :: Cuisine, Culture, Spirituality, Medicinal Plants :: 2 Comments »

We’ve just returned to Rasa Ayurveda after leading a group of women from Chicago on a learning expedition to Medicine Mountain in Tamil Nadu. The great Indian epic, the Ramayana, tells the story of Lord Rama and his servant–Hanuman, the monkey God–who is the embodient of service and devotion.

In the Ramayana,  Hanuman travels to Mount Sanjeevani in the Himalayas–known for its vast variety of living medicines–to find and harvest a rare flowering plant for Rama’s army physician. He looks and looks, only to see many plants that more-or-less fit the description of the one he needs to carry. Time is of the essence, so Hanuman scoops up the entire top of Sanjeevani, just to make sure he has the correct plant. In one famous leap,  Hanuman flies across the entire length of India and across the Indian Ocean to the island of Sri Lanka to deliver his precious cargo. As he passed overhead, it’s said Hanuman dropped a clod of earth, which now stands as Medicine Mountain,  300 feet high and studded with countless medicinal plants.

Sanju Shares his Knowledge of Native Medicinal Plants

On Medicine Mountain, Sanju introduced many medicinal botanicals, including the sacred Koovalam (Aegle mermelos), a perennial small tree now on Kerala’s endangered plants list. (In our work thru The Muthashi Project, we hope to take action to help propagate this rare and valuable botanical.)

Students learn about the Sacred and Medicinal Koovalam Tree

The fruits of the Koovalam tree are astringent and regulate digestion in cases of diarrhea and dysentery. Koovalam has also been used traditionally as a cardiac depressant, and a powder of the bark is used to poison fish.

Medicinal and Sacred Koovalam Tree

The Koovalam tree is sacred to Lord Shiva and the tree is often planted on temple grounds. It is never planted near homes, however, because of it’s sacred and sensitive nature. Devotees of Lord Shiva lucky enough to have access to a few leaves of Koovalam will no doubt be offering light green garlands this Friday night on Shiva Rathri, the annual Night of Shiva,  celebrated by all who worship MahaShiva who is one of the three main Hindu deities.

Healing, Learning & Enjoying!

While our main goal for the trek was to study the rare medicinal plants on the mountain, we also a taste of perfect bliss in a small Shiva temple–one of many pilgrimage spots along the mountain trail–where I led the group in intoning the primal mantra–OM. The deep resonance of spiritual energy and pure vibration we experienced together within the cave walls cannot adequately be described in words!

Thanking Our Friend and Mountain Guide

We’ve now returned to Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre, where all the participants are settling in for an extended period of residential traditional Ayurvedic treatment, and quiet study of Ayurveda. As these women learn about Ayurveda’s value for every stage of a woman’s life, we are appreciating that this particular group includes women of all ages, from twenty-something to grandmother hood! Thanks are due to Sandia Bachman, the “group catalyst” for this special 14-day Women’s Ayurveda Retreat. Sandia is a yoga teacher and new practitioner of Ayurveda from the Chicago area, who’s always looking for beautiful ways to be of service to nature and humanity. Thank you Sandia for bringing such a lovely group of women together at Rasa Ayurveda!

Wishing you all the Blessings of our Mother Earth~

Niika Quistgard, CAS, Managing Director
MayaShakti Ayurveda, Pvt. Ltd.

Niika Quistgard :: Feb.10.2010 :: Ayurveda & Siddha, Culture, Spirituality, Environment, Internal Medicines, Medicinal Plants :: 1 Comment »

In Kerala, there are five kinds of manjal we frequently use. Four are members of the very populated Curcuma genus of the Zingiberaceae (ginger) family. But two of these four are actually the exact same plant! And one isn’t related to turmeric at all…! Still, we count five.

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Niika Quistgard :: Dec.01.2009 :: Ayurveda & Siddha, External Medicines, Internal Medicines, Medicinal Plants :: 2 Comments »

Dear Friends,

When women come to Rasa Ayurveda for group programs, one essential activity is to interact with local Malayalee in a meaningful way thru The Muthashi Project. This week, women attending the Women’s Ayurveda Retreat at Rasa Ayurveda participated in our fourth  Muthashi Project event. Although I’m far away in the U.S. helping my son recover from his injuries, Sanju, Dr. Geetha, Sandia Bachman, Rema and all the staff and students did a fantastic job showing up to offer another great program, inspiring young Malayalee women to carry on valuable ancient traditional knowledge.

The Muthashi Project, founded in 2008, seeks to sustain the traditional relationships between Malayalee women and the native botanicals they’ve successfully relied on for medicine for thousands of year.  ‘Muthashi’ means ‘great-grandmother’ in Malayalam, the language of Kerala. ‘Muthashi’ represents the potential every woman has to live and heal thru her personal connection with Nature, the knowledge and experience of the generations of women that came before her, and the depth of her own wisdom.

The Muthashi Project sponsors Women’s Outreach Programs to inspire younger Malayalee women to continue the age-old practice of recognizing and using native plants as medicine. We usually offer these programs in communities lying just outside the city, where there is undeveloped land and backyard space for plants to grow, but where traditional knowledge and life-ways are evaporating quickly.

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Niika Quistgard :: Jul.15.2009 :: Ayurveda & Siddha, Culture, Spirituality, Environment, Medicinal Plants, Rasa Ayurveda News, The Muthashi Project :: 3 Comments »

Happy Earth Day!

Photo: The paddy field, adjacent to Rasa Ayurveda.

Our Mother Earth is even more vital to our survival than–well–our actual mother…! We all arise from Her,  take all our sustenance from Her, and rely on Her to deal with our wastes. And ultimately, our body returns to Her. Whether we personally feel the great connection or not, our relationship with Mother Earth is unarguably intimate and interdependent…

At Rasa Ayurveda today, we are doing a bit of spring cleaning. We’re closed for the hot season until June 3rd–when monsoon begins–so we’re taking this time to tend the grounds, expand Rasa’s rich collection of medicinal plants, and create a new coconut-leaf thatch structure on the treatment roof.

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Niika Quistgard :: Apr.27.2009 :: Environment, Medicinal Plants :: No Comments »

In the midst of a significant life transition, Christina Reinhart came to Rasa Ayurveda to experience and learn Ayurveda. A recent graduate of Bastyr University in Washington, U.S., Christina lives in Fargo, North Dakota. The photo shows her blooming in Rasa’s medicinal plants garden, wearing a beautiful Indian sari, nestled close to her favorite plant companion, Thulasi (Ocimum tenuiflorum/Holy Basil). (See her monograph below.)

Christina felt inspired to write this blog entry about her experience during her therapies here at Rasa:

A magic resides here that spirals within this healing family, cuisine, medicine, treatments, and community.

Here, my senses are awakened, illuminated. Dreamy nights and sleeping beauties awaken each morning to melodies dancing from the nearby temple. Aromas of each meal fill the air with an invitation for nourishment and healing. The cuisine here is an art form, awakening and transcending the soul of its receiver.

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Niika Quistgard :: Oct.11.2008 :: Medicinal Plants, Practitioner Education :: 1 Comment »