Ayurvedic Vastra

Health Promoting Ayurveda Apparel

“MuniYoga Vasthra” is based on the Ayurvedic principle that regular contact with a cloth made from the yarns infused with organic herbs and medicinal plant extracts will relieve metabolic disorders and threads a new line of healthy living.
It is 100 per cent pure cotton or silk handloom fabric made out of dyes using various ayurvedic herbs. It can be used as Ayurvedic treatment for diseases like obesity, diabetes, insomnia, depression, skin infections, hypertension, asthma, arthritis and also for boosting immunity. The clothes have successfully undergone clinical trials in Muniyal Ayurveda Post Graduate Centre at Manipal.

Efficacy of MuniYoga Vasthra
Many clinical experiments have been conducted to show the effectiveness of MuniYoga Vasthra. It was found through various trials that such an environment can help those suffering from skin diseases, arthritis. Eczema, psoriasis and rheumatism and blood pressure. All these trials showed a marked improvement.
The Dravyaguna Department (Ayurveda Pharmacology Department) of Muniyal Ayurveda  College conducted a month-long trial by using bedding, rugs and towels made from MuniYoga Vasthra and they found that it helped the patients who suffered from diseases like eczema, psoriasis and rheumatism. According to the Dean of the Drug Research Department at Muniyal Ayurveda College, “We treated around 40 people. And the response was remarkably good, especially in cases of arthritis and skin ailments.” Based upon the successful results of this clinical trial, the company has initiated a more in-depth and expanded study into the possible effectiveness of MuniYoga Vasthra in the treatment of other ailments including cancer.
A similar study was conducted to test the efficacy of medicated coir mats too. A six-month clinical trial on patients suffering from rheumatism, allergy, hypertension, diabetes, psoriasis and other skin ailments. For the study, all clothes, bed linens and mattresses of the patients were dyed in MuniYoga Vasthra herbs and the walls, floors and ceilings in the patient’s room were lined with MuniYoga Vasthra coir mats so that the patient were surrounded by MuniYoga Vasthra medicated materials. The improvements in the health of patients suffering from rheumatism and arthritis are especially interesting because rheumatism and arthritis are not skin disorders and this indicate that the treatments might have healthy benefits that extend beyond the periphery of skin problems.
By coming in contact with “MuniYoga Vasthra”, the body loses toxins and its metabolism is enhanced. The most effective time to wear “MuniYoga Vasthra” is when the body is most at rest such as during sleep or meditating because this is when the body is naturally healing and re-establishing its balance. This is why “MuniYoga Vasthra” cloth is often used as sleepwear, bed sheets, towels, meditation clothes and coir mats.
Conventional Western medicine and traditional Eastern medicine recognize the skin as being the body’s largest organ. The skin can act as a barrier but also as a conduit for outside substances to enter the body. Many environmental toxins and chemicals in conventional clothing are assimilated into the body through the skin. Anything which can improve the skin’s natural ability to block and resist harmful chemicals and toxins from entering the body will be beneficial to health.
Ayurveda identifies seven unique layers of the skin where each layer has a distinct function. Starting from the outermost layer, the seven layers defined by Ayurveda are Avabhasini, Lohita, Shweta, Tamra, Vedini, Rohini and Mamsadhara.
The fourth layer, Tamra, supports the immune system and performs the function of acting as a barrier. Skin infections reflect an imbalance in this layer. The “MuniYoga Vasthra” cloth and clothing can improve the skin’s ability to act as a barrier to external and environmental toxins, the wearer’s health might be improved.

THE PROCESS
The process of making “MuniYoga Vasthra” 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. 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 “MuniYoga Vasthra” 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). Court physicians in ancient India used this formulation. Some weaving communities 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.
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.
Around 200 herbs are used for making various types of MuniYoga Vasthra. Each Kashayas for MuniYoga Vasthra 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 Salaparni (Gmelina arborea), Dadima (Punica granatum), Amalaki (Emblica officinalis), Khair (Accacia catechu), Haldi (Curcuma longa), Kesar (Saffron / Crocus sativus), Sappan (Caesalpinia sappan), Mahabharivacha (Alpinia galanga), Aranika (Premina latifolia roxb), Adhapuspi (Trichodesma indicum), Yavani (Trachyspermum ammi), Agar (Aquilaria agallocha roxb), Tirucalli (Euphorbia tirucalli), Irumullu (Xylia xylocarpa), Rui (Calatropis gigautea), Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Bodhi (Ficus religiousu), Gandhaunakuli (Aristolochia indica), Sugandhimoola (Vetiveria zizanioides), Amaltas (Cassia fistula), Kakamachi (Solanum nigrum), Ajagandhi (Ocimum basilicum), Chirabilva (Pongamia pinnata), Shalparni (Desmodium gangeticum), Chandana (Santalum album), Raktha Chandana (Sanicula marilandica), Pathimukham (Caesalpinia sapans), Dadhiphala (Feronia elephantum), Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), Karanja (Derris indica), Aksaphala (Drypetes roxburghi), Chakramarda (Cassia tora), Gammalu Aratu (Pterocarpus marsupium), Akschota (Jasminum grandiflorum), Harra (Embelic myrabolam), Gulgulu (Commiphora mukul), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Jatamansi (Nerium indicum), Chirtamutti (Pavonia zeylanica), Aratta (Alpinia calcarata), Patavalli (Cyclea peltata), Akil (Aquilaria agallocha), Chikhamula (Solanum surattense), Shuddha Gairika (Strychnos nux-vomica), Brhatphala (Benincasa hispida), Kewda (Pandanus odoratissimus), Nirmali (Strychnos potatorum), Henna Leaf (Lawsonia inermis), Manjistha (Rubia cordifolia), Nagvalli (Piper Betle), etc.
There are two processes for making MuniYoga Vasthra. Firstly, the yarn is medicated before weaving and secondly, the fabric is dyed after weaving. The raw yarn is cleaned by a natural bleaching agent and dipped in Ayurvedic concoctions lasting from 4 hours to several days under controlled temperature. The encapsulation is assisted by a natural gum. It is allowed to dry and then is washed carefully to remove any loose particles.
We use natural fiber like cotton fabrics and yarn for dyeing process. We can also use other natural fibers like jute, wool, silk, hemp and linen for our dyeing. The making of “MuniYoga Vasthra” are includes 100% chemical free pure organic cottons. The dyeing process of fabric and yarn contain several methods.

We mention clearly about the dyeing process below:
De-sizing: The processing of MuniYoga Vasthra begins with the washing of hand loomed cloth in natural mineral-rich water and sea salts to remove its sizing, gums and oils used in the course of spinning.

Bleaching is a process to remove the natural dull colour and also impurities in cotton or yarn. The natural bleaching should be done using sunlight, Soap nut & medicinal grass, etc.

Preparation of Ayurvedic kashaya: The dye is prepared based on the customer color requirement. Then organic fabric is medicated carefully in mixture of herbal medicine preparation called Kashayas (meaning concoctions). The word medication is used instead of dyeing because here the medicinal plants/herbs themselves give natural color to fabrics. The blend of herbs is boiled in a controlled temperature and then dye components are extracted and then filtered.

Medicated Dyeing: Normal fabrics like organically grown cotton yarn, jute fibre, silk, wool etc. are used to make MuniYoga Vasthra by dying them with the desired herbs in a controlled temperature and environment. MuniYoga Vasthra cloth is completely free of synthetic chemicals and toxic irritants and is totally organic, sustainable and biodegradable.
The colour of the MuniYoga Vasthra is gained from the medicinal preparation only and no other colourants are used. Resultantly, its property will last as long as the colour is there. The roots, flowers, leaves, seeds and barks of around 200 herbs are used to make the dyes. Since the natural herbs are generally found in very beautiful shades, MuniYoga Vasthra is also becoming very popular for its colour properties.
We have aspired to achieve and retain the medicinal qualities of the herbs by immersing the plant material directly in the dye bath for the same reason. This process will permanently fix the dyes of fabrics or yarn.

Washing / Finishing: In ayurvedic herbal dyeing, finishing is done by sprinkling pure water on the cloth and once again treated with natural surfactant solution to remove the unfixed in yarn or fabrics.

Softening: The dyed fabrics are too hard usually. So the natural herbal ingredients (for example coconut oil, Castrol oil) are used for softening the fabric or yarn.

Drying: The dyed fabrics is dried in shades and kept in dark room for a weeks for color fixation.

The entire process is organic. It does not pollute the environment like synthetic dyes. And the waste is used as bio manure and also to generate bio gas.
The technology for making MuniYoga Vasthra is being utilised for making coir mats, mattresses, door mats, carpets and fabrics out of bamboo, jute and silk.

EFFICACY
Many clinical experiments have been conducted to show the effectiveness of MuniYoga Vasthra. It was found through various trials that such an environment can help those suffering from skin diseases, arthritis, eczema, psoriasis, obesity, rheumatism and blood pressure. All these trials showed a “marked improvement.”