Botanical Name: Sphaeranthus indicus. Sanskrit: Mahamundi, shravani, tapasvini, mundi, hapus

It can found in unused dry paddy fields in summers. One can identify this herb by it’s spherical magenta to purplish flowers.
This plan has many many medicinal properties to treat various disease like epilepsy, mental illness, hemicrania, jaundice, diabetes, leprosy, fever, cough, gastropathy, hernia, hemorrhoids, helminthiasis, dyspepsia and skin diseases.
There are scientific evidences which shows hypotensive, anxiolytic, neuroleptic, hypolipidemic, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, bronchodialatory, antihyperglycemic and hepatoprotective properties of this plant.

This whole plant is valuable. It’s flowers, seeds, stem and roots are valuable for making medicine and home remedies. Whole plant can be used by making decoction, flowers can be used by making powder, can be applet externally by making paste or extracting oil.
In Unani medicine system, Gorakhmundi is used as a tonic, laxative, emmenagogue, and it also increases the appetite, enriches the blood, lessens inflammation, cools the brain and gives luster to the eye, is good for sore eyes, jaundice, scalding of urine, gleet, biliousness, boils, scabies, ringworm in the waist, diseases of the chest.

Traditional Uses:

The fresh juice of the plant is given with black pepper powder in a dose of 10-15 ml to treat headache including cases of migraine.
The decoction prepared from the plant is given in a dose of 50-60 ml to treat cases of indigestion, piles, intestinal worms and enlargement of liver.
The paste of the plant is applied over the area affected with elephantiasis.
The cold infusion is given in a dose of 40-50 ml to treat chronic cough and asthma.
The juice of the plant is given as a nevine tonic and to treat general debility and epilepsy.
The paste of the whole plant is applied externally in skin diseases and herpes.
The distillate from the plant known as ‘Mundi arka’ is a potent medicine to treat cases of asthma.
The cold infusion of the plant is given in a dose of 50-60 ml to treat burning micturition and pyuria.
The decoction prepared from the plant Sphaeranthus indicus is given in a dose of 40-50 ml to treat cases of diarrhea and vomiting.
Ayurvedic preparations:  Mundi churna, mundi panchang swarasa, mundi kavatha.