Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Kakoli (Roscoea purpurea), of the Zingiberaceae family. Small Himalayan herb of the ginger kind, a tuft of sheathing leaves rising from a cluster of fleshy finger-like root tubers, the flowers large and purple; native range: The Himalaya — Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and the northern Indian hills, on open grassy slopes and forest edge at 1500–3000 m. Globally recognized as kākolī, vayaḥsthā, kṣīrā in Sanskrit, kakoli in Nepali, kakoli in Hindi, and Himalayan ginger-lily, kakoli in English. The part used is root tuber. Pale, fleshy, finger-like tubers in a cluster, sweet and mucilaginous when chewed, yielding a milky juice.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
KAKOLI
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- kakoli
- Scientific name
- Roscoea purpurea Sm.
- Family
- Zingiberaceae
Form
- Part used
- root tuber
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sweet (madhura)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- jivaniya (vitalising), brimhana (nourishing), balya, vrishya (aphrodisiac), stanyajanana (galactagogue), and daha-prashamana
Cautions
- Contraindications
- kapha excess, weak digestion, heavy congestion and obesity — the tuber is sweet, cold and building
- Toxicity
- no toxicity recorded for the tuber in dose
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