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| Ayur Vastra
» Technology Technology  Court
physicians of Travancore palace made this formulation many years ago.
Some families of Kerala's Shaliyar weaving community provided clothes
dyed in herbs to the royal family. The Ayurvedic herbs are boiled
at a particular temperature and the fabric is dipped in it for at
least four hours and, in some cases, a whole day. In the case of weaving
sandalwood sarees, first the yarn and then the cloth is dyed in sandalwood
oil.
The process of Ayurvastra starts with the 100% pure organic cotton that has been hand loomed. The cloth passes through several stages of treatment before becoming colourful and ready to wear. No machine processing is involved in the making of Ayurvastra. More importantly, no chemical additives are added to prepare the cotton fibres for spinning and weaving and no chemical finishes are applied to enhance its appearance. Every step in the preparation of Ayurvastra cloth and clothing is carefully and precisely controlled. The process of herbal dyeing was developed through extensive research during the age old dyeing methods practiced since the days of the Indus Civilization (2500 BC). Some of the rare herbs are procured from Agasthya forests of Western Ghats by the tribal community. Needless to say, around 1200 weavers and tribals are involved in this project.
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Around
200 herbs are used for making various types of ayurvastra. Each
Kashayas for Ayurvastra cloth typically contain between
40 and 60 specifically blended and carefully prepared medicinal
herbs, plants, flowers, roots and barks. The examples for these
medicines are