Identification of New Medicinal Plants Enumerated In Telugu Cantos of Basavarajeeyam

Abstract

Background: Basavarajeeyam is an essential manual for Andhra Pradesh's Ayurvedic
physicians. It is a multilingual book that has information in both Sanskrit and Telugu.
Aim: The plants detailed in the Telugu verses of Basavarajeeyam are seen to be
significant contributions to the Indian medical system. With this in mind, a re -
identification of those plants was attempted. Materials and Procedures: To find and
tabulate the herbs, the whole text was analysed and inspected. The results of this
conceptual analysis were utilised in a subsequent field study. Botanical identification
was performed using the data acquired during the field survey. The study was carried
out in collaboration with regional research centres in the states of Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka, as well as the Coimbatore Botanical Survey Unit. Non-controversial source
plants' Latin names were included and critically analysed. Results: There are a total of
268 plants listed in the Telugu cantos, of which 29 are stated just once and are not
repeated in Sanskrit or in parentheses. Conclusion: Basavaraju provided 14 new plants
in total, 10 of which were listed in Telugu cantos and 4 of which were referenced
elsewhere in the book.