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Hedychium, Shathi

Spiked Ginger Lily
Shati, Gandashathi (Ayurveda)
Kapurkachari (Unani)
Poolankizangu (Siddha)
Sga Skya  སྒ་སྐྱ  (Tibetan)
Hedychium spicatum
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine (Illustration: Hooker), 1830
Botanical name:
Hedychium spicatum (syn. H. album)
NOTE: In Ayurveda, Unani and Tibetan Medicine, this medicine is used synonymously with Kaempferia galanga

Parts used:
Rhizomes; leaf

Temperature & Taste:
Warm, dry. Pungent

Uses:
1. Clears Phlegm, Stops Cough:
-Cough, Asthma

2. Clears Wind-Phlegm, Stops Spasms:
-Wind-Phlegm disorders in Tibetan Medicine
-Wind-Phlegm disorders affecting the Head and Nerves
-Wind diseases affecting the Heart

3. Warms the Stomach, Clears Cold:
-Nausea, Vomiting, Indigestion
-Loss of Appetite
-Hiccup

4. Moves the Blood:
-promotes circulation, clears stasis caused by Cold or Phlegm

5. Externally:
-as a paste applied to Inflammation and Rheumatism
-promotes hair growth
-used to repel insects


DOSE:
1–3 grams of the Powder

SUBSTITUTES:
1. Kaempferia galanga in Kerala (Unani)
2. Zedoary

Main Combinations:
1. Bronchial Asthma, with Inula racemosa, Emblic Myrobalan and Honey (Charaka)
2. Asthma, with Inula racemosa, Ginger, Long Pepper, Cyperus rotundus and Adhatoda vasica
3. Vata/Wind Heart diseases, with Boerhovia diffusa, Ginger and Chebulic Myrobalan with Ghee
4. Tonic for children, with White Pepper, Red Coral, Borax, Saffron, taken with milk or honey; good for fever, cough, indigestion (Ayurveda)
5. Topically for Rheumatic pain, with Ginger as a paste

Cautions:
1. Not used in Yin deficiency

Main Preparations used: