It is festival season in India, and many of us have been celebrating Vinayaka / Ganesh Chaturti . This is a festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed remover of obstacles, who ushers good beginnings and prosperity. One of the herbs used to worship Lord Ganesha (apart from Modaks!) is Durva Grass. So today’s blog post will talk about this sacred herb and how we use it in Krya for our skin care oils.

The legend behind the use of Durva for Lord Ganesha:

The word Durva can be broken into 2 parts – Duhu + avam and the words can be translated to mean “ that which brings that which is far away, closer”.
Durva grass (arugampul) is probably familiar to those who worship Lord Ganesha. This sacred grass is used in the worship of many deities but is especially used when praying to Lord Ganesha.
Legend has it that the demon Analasura caused havoc in the 3 worlds and emitted fire from his eyes. The Gods prayed to Lord Ganesha and asked him to save them from Analasura. In the battlefield, Analasura attacked Lord Ganesha with fireballs. Lord Ganesha assumed his vishwaroopam and ate the demon in a single swallow.
Having eaten Analasura, Lord Ganesha’s body started to increase in heat and he became very uncomfortable. First the moon came to help Lord Ganesha and stood on his head. This was not enough to quench the heat emitted by Analasura. Then Lord Vishnu gave Lord Ganesha his sacred lotus to hold. Even this was not enough. Then Lord Shiva lent Lord Ganesha his snake and tied it around his belly to help release the excess heat. Even this did not help.

 
Finally a few Maha Rishis came to Lord Ganesha’s rescue with 21 sets of Durva Grass and placed it together on his head. The Durva Grass was able to do what the Moon, Vishnu’s sacred Lotus and Shiva’s sacred Cobra were not able to achieve together – it brought down the excess heat generated by the demon Analasura from Lord Ganesha’s body.

The medicinal properties of Durva Grass:

Mythologically and in Ayurveda and Siddha lore, the Durva grass is revered for its spiritual and medicinal properties.
Charaka refers to Durva grass as one of the 10 great complexion promoters. Ayurvedic texts refer to Durva grass as “Sahasra virya” denoting its multi fold strengths and versatility in use. It is considered complexion enhancing, astringent, moisturizing, demulcent and cooling for the skin. Durva is also considered very good for the eyes and is therefore regarded as a good ophthalmic drug.

 
The Ayurvedic texts recommend use of the Durva in many skin disorders like psoriasis, eczema and even pitta induced skin conditions like prickly heat, etc as a direct paste for skin.
Because of this pitta reducing, wound healing and skin restoring property, Durva is the key ingredient in many classical Ayurvedic skin preparations like Durvadi Tailam which is used for external application in severe skin diseases and large wounds.

Durva at Krya:

We use Durva in our skin oils which are meant for dry, severely dry , and skin with disorders like eczema, psoriasis, etc.
For example, The Durva grass is a key herb in the Krya Moisture Plus skin Oil. As you are aware, we do not make post bath moisture products at Krya, as we follow the traditional medicine led philosophy of moisturizing the skin before a bath. This is because of 2 deep reasons: Traditional medicine generally considered that skin functions best when it is left to breathe without anything blocking the pores. So moisturisation is usually done as a pre-bath activity.
The moisturisation process is usually done with oil, again for a few reasons: oil has the texture that allows a variety of massage movements which in the process helps eliminate toxins and improves micro circulation. Also depending upon the oil, there is also the possibility of balancing the doshas which leads to better health.

Durva in Krya Moisture Plus Skin Oil:

The Krya Moisture plus skin oil has been formulated for vata prakriti skin. This skin tends to be generally normal to dry and can feel tight, dry and uncomfortable in cold and low humid weather. The oil uses a combination of rasayana, complexion enhancing and demulcent herbs. Durva and Dadima (the pomegranate fruit) are the lead ingredients in this oil and they are supported by other skin regenerative and repair herbs like Kushta, Ashwagandha and Brahmi.

The Krya Moisture plus oil is a very skin nourishing and moisturizing oil. Our consumers also use this oil as a night cream and a regenerative face serum before they go to sleep at night. Regular use enhances the complexion, makes the skin supple and soft and evens out skin tone.

Durva in Krya nourishing baby massage oils (Lemongrass variant and Palmarosa variant)

Durva is also a key herb used in the Krya nourishing baby massage oil – in both variants. This baby oil was developed specifically for children with chronically dry or irritation prone skin. Such children would not be able to use the Krya traditional Baby Massage oil because of the high use of stimulating and warming herbs with the product.
The Krya nourishing baby massage oil uses 19, powerful, skin rejuvenating Ayurvedic herbs including Vata (Sacred Banyan), Udumbura (Sacred Indian Fig), and Ashwattha (Sacred Peepul). This is apart from the prominent use of fresh Durva grass Swarasa (juice) and Durva grass kalpa (fresh herb paste). The herbs are extracted using the Tila Paka method into 3 organic oils ( Sesame, Coconut & Mahua ) and Organic Kokum butter.
 
The use of these healing sacred herbs has a very soothing and nourishing effect on tender, irritable, sensitive skin. Parents find that skin health is improved, the flare-up skin episodes reduce in volume and intensity, and baby’s skin is overall much healthier and balanced.

Durva in Krya Sensitive Skin Oil

Durva also goes into the Krya Sensitive skin Oil with Cardamom & Neem. This oil forms a part of the Krya Sensitive Skin range for adults and children separately, designed for skin that has a tendency to develop conditions like contact dermatitis, eczema or psoriasis. In this oil we use a mixture of skin healing, cell regenerative, pitta and kapha balancing herbs like Ashwagandha, Kushta, Lodhra, Yashtimadhu and Manjishta.
The Lead ingredients of Durva grass, Neem and Cardamom support these skin healing and regenerative herbs by balancing excess Pitta, enhancing the complexion , reducing the growth of fungal and bacterial organisms and improving skin health.

To sum up:

So there you have it: that’s a brief glimpse into the properties of Cynodon dactylon /  Durva which goes into Krya’s skin care products. As we have said before, Ayurvedic herbs are potent and strong, and must always be tailor made using the right anupana to suit your constitution. Do not attempt to self medicate. If you feel internal consumption of Durva could help you, please meet an Ayurvedic Vaidya who can diagnose your condition and prescribe Durva in the right dose and right format for you.
We do herb related posts at Krya to give you a glimpse into just how potent, powerful and good for us the plants used in Ayurveda are. We hope you found this post inspiring and useful. Do leave your thoughts and comments on this post below. If you would like us to write about a specific herb , do leave that in your comments as well.