There is a sudden increase in the sale of ayurvedic products made of cow urine, cow dung, cow milk, basil and others in the Northeast, say ayurvedic products wholesalers.
“The sale of ayurvedic beauty products was always high in the Indian market but these days the sale of gomutra (cow urine), panchgavya (product made of cow dung, urine, milk, ghee and curd), haldi (turmeric), giloy (Tinospora cordifolia), aloe vera and basil, among others, have scaled up,” Sanoj Kumar Prasad of International Marketing Corporation Pvt Limited, who sells ayurvedic health and beauty care products, told The Telegraph.
Another wholesaler of ayurvedic medicines by branded companies in Tinsukia district of Upper Assam said on the condition of anonymity, “Traditional medicines are being promoted as Indian solution to coronavirus across the globe. People are taking precautionary measures in their own traditional way. Around 85 per cent of our sale these days are health care products as people are looking at herbal preventive treatments.”
Swami Chaitanya Kriti, an ayurveda teacher, said, “Ayurveda can help people to fight the disease by improving immunity.”
India’s AYUSH ministry has also suggested that alternative medicines such as ayurveda, homoeopathy and Unani could boost immunity against the deadly novel coronavirus.
Till date, no specific medicine has been recommended to prevent or treat coronavirus, which has killed more than 4,000 people, affected over 1,15,000 and spread to more than 75 countries. Scientists are working to find ways to stamp out the deadly virus. As of now, the mainstream antiviral treatments focus on relieving the symptoms.
According to a World Health Organisation report, the infected should receive appropriate care to relieve and treat symptoms and the severely affected should receive optimised supportive care. Specific treatments are under investigation and being tested under clinical trials. WHO is helping to accelerate research and development efforts with a range of partners.
Adherents of Ayurveda believe that the ancient remedies can help. Several videos circulated on social media show people drinking cow urine and panchgavya and using them as sanitizers.
