Bhang is mainly taken during the Indian festival Holi, the "festival of colours" and has a millennia-long tradition as a spring festival in India, Sri Lanka and other countries with a high Hindu population. During the celebrations, participants drink bhang and joyfully throw colour pigments at each other.
Although cannabis is still not legalised in India, bhang is sold during the celebrations and prohibition becomes a low priority.
Bhang and various preparations with it have always been part of Indian culture
Bhang, which contains cannabis, has great medicinal benefits and is widely used in Ayurvedic healing. At the same time, it is considered by many to be a fun booster and enjoys great popularity not least because of this. During the Holi festival, some government-authorised shops open in Delhi to sell bhang and paan. Many people also prepare bhang and the corresponding dishes from it at home.
Authorised Bhang Shop in Delhi
The use of cannabis sativa in Ayurveda varies depending on the symptoms and causes of the disease. In India, Bhang is sometimes mixed with other herbs to treat specific diseases.
Cannabis is traditionally used in India for various conditions such as pain, nausea, weight loss, neurologically induced spasms and sunstroke. It is further used against dysentery (still occurs in India), to aid digestion, against arthritis, MS, depression and skin problems.
Indian Ayurvedic experts recommend the external use of the paste of fresh flowers and leaves for cracked and inflamed skin problems but also as an aphrodisiac as a natural Viagra.
In many parts of the country, people consume bhang before the main meal because they want it to enhance the taste of the food and stimulate digestion.
At the same time, the Indians found that cannabis can probably solve speech problems, although the mechanism and mode of action for this are still unclear, and also improves hearing power when used regularly.
The seeds of the cannabis plant have no psychoactive effect, but are used in India against gonorrhoea. The history of Bhang is rooted in Hindu mythology and its preparation is traditionally consecrated to the gods, especially Lord Shiva, the god of Bhang. He is said to have discovered the transcendent and medicinal effects of the mixture.
As early as 1000 BC, bhang was described as an intoxicating remedy for anxiety. Sadhus still use bhang today to increase and improve meditation and to reach transcendent states of mind. Among the Sufis, an Indian religious group, bhang was popular as an aid to spiritual ecstasy.
The traditional recipe for bhang is simple. It is added to many Indian dishes and especially drinks and there are endless variations of it in different parts and regions of India.
Holi and Bhang
Holi is a festival of colours and senses
Holi is one of the oldest festivals in India and is also known as the festival of colours. Five days after the full moon of the month of Phalgun (February / March) is the climax of the festivities that last several days. On this day, all social barriers seem to fall, people of all castes, social groups and ages mingle and celebrate boisterously in the streets. People splash each other with coloured water and coloured powder, the gulal. Originally, the colourful powders consisted of blossoms, roots and herbs with healing properties, but now synthetic colours are increasingly used.
The Holi festival has several meanings, among others it symbolises the victory of spring over winter or in a spiritual sense the triumph of good over evil. The aspect of reconciliation is an important part of Holi; during the festival all differences and disputes are supposed to be buried.
An integral part of the Holi festival is Bhang and preparations with Bhang. These have always been part of it.
How is bhang made? - Bhang recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh cannabis leaves and fresh buds.
4 teaspoons sugar
½ cup water
2 teaspoons Ghee (enriched with cannabis or without depending on desired strength).
optional spices such as saffron, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg depending on desired taste and use
Production of Bhang:
Small and fresh cannabis leaves as well as fresh buds are crushed with sugar in a mortar.
Put the crushed leaves with the sugar, the water and the ghee in a pan and heat for 15 minutes at very low heat.
Leave the mixture to cool at room temperature.
Mix everything well again. The bhang should now be like a paste. This paste is passed through a coarse sieve so that the larger plant parts, fibres and stems are filtered out. Typically, the bhang paste is then formed into small balls until further processing.
A Bang from the Bhang
One should approach the dosage of bhang carefully at first and, as a patient with a lower tolerance, rather add ghee that does not contain cannabis. Depending on the starting materials, bhang can be very strong and can blow you away if you get too much of it and are not used to it.
More recipes with Bhang:
