Key Ingredients for Orai Marundu

Orai means rubbing the herbs to extract the paste and Marundu means medicine.

Basic Herbs Used

·         Jaadika (Nutmeg – brown colour)  - Typically used to remove body ache for the infant and to make the infant drowsy.

·         Maasika (Green colour nut) – Typically used for cold

·         Vasambu (small sticks in brown) – Typically used for general discomfort related to digestion/ restlessness

Specific Herbs Used

·         Chukku (Dried Ginger) – Typically used for cold

·         Chittarathai  - Typically used for cough

·         Kadukai – Typically used to relieve baby from constipation problems

·         Kotta Drakshapazham (Specific variety of dried Raisins) – Typically for easy stools

·         Parangi Chakkai  - Typically for skin related problems for infants

Optional Non-Herbal Items to add to Orai Marundu

·         Dry dates (Good for iron)

·         Badam (Good for brain development)

·         Cashew Nut (Good for growth)

Orai Kallu – A hard surface against which the herbs are rubbed to extract the paste. Usually a flat stone.

Where to buy the dry herbs?

The above basic and specific herbs can be bought from any traditional medicine shop (Naatu Marundu kadai). One good place to buy this is in Bazaar Street (Mylapore, Chennai) where there a number of shops selling traditional medicines.

Since the Orai Marundu is only used after the 13^th day of birth, the basic and specific herbs mentioned above need to be stored. The correct procedure to store the herbs is as follows:
a. First steam the herbs in milk for 2 whistles in cooker. 
b. After letting the cooker cool, take the herbs out of the milk.
c. Wash them in warm water and dry in the open (don’t keep them under direct sunlight).
d. After they are dry, store them in a container for use later.

The milk is used for steaming so that subsequently when rubbing the herbs, the paste is obtained easily.

Note: The optional items (Dry dates, Badam, Cashew Nut) need not follow the procedures for storing mentioned above since they can be stored as is.

Till Punyakavachanam (11^th day function), the baby is not given oil bath nor are any herbs given.

The Kuli Morai (Oil Bath schedule) starts after Punyakavachanam – from the 13^th day. Each date of the oil bath is given a number. You need to keep track of the count of the oil bath. Example 1^st day of oil bath, 2^nd day of oil bath etc. Reason for this is because the number of times the herbs are rubbed to extract the paste is the same as the count. So on the 3^rd oil bath day, the herbs have to be rubbed 3 times, on the 5^th day 5 times so on so forth. Essentially this increases the quantity of herbs given to the baby in proportion to the baby’s growth.

Preparing the Marundu

Whenever the medicine is to be prepared follow the procedures here. Clean the Orai Kallu (the surface on which the herbs are to be rubbed) with boiled water. Take a spoon of boiled water or mother’s breast milk in a small Paal Aadai or small cup. Put a drop or two of this milk/water on the Orai Kallu.  

Now take the General Herbs (Jaadika, Masika and Vasambu) one by one. Take each of these 3 herbs; hold between thumb and forefinger and press against the milk/water that you just put. Rub it XYZ number of times where XYZ is the count of the oil bath. (e.g. When giving the 3^rd oil bath, you need to rub it 3 times etc).  The number of times typically should not exceed 20-30 times.  

After 2 weeks of oil bath, the Specific herbs (Chukku, Chittarathai and Parangi Chakkai) can be added to the above General herbs in the same procedure mentioned above. If any specific symptoms are there, the appropriate Specific herb can be rubbed two times extra – e.g. if the baby has cold, Chukku can be rubbed two times extra (make sure this is not overdone!).

After all the herbs have been rubbed, with a clean forefinger, take the paste generated on Orai Kallu by the rubbing it out of the surface and put it in the Paal Aadai or small cup.  You can add a few more drops of water or milk to take the paste completely out of the surface. This is what constitutes the medicine. Typically you will get only maximum half a spoon of the medicine.

How to give the Orai Marundu

Before taking the baby for bath, the Orai Marundu and coal must be made ready. If there is a helper, this can be prepared when the baby is taking the oil bath.

Oil bath is to be given every alternate day starting from the 13^th day till the 1^st birthday. Typically Gingely oil (Til ka tel) is used for the oil bath. The oil should be warmed before applying to the infant. After the baby is bathed and dried, clean the infant’s ears and nostrils using any fine cloth.

After this, the Orai Marundu is given using the Paal aadai or spoon.

After the Orai Marundu is given, infant’s hair and body should be dried with Sambrani (a powder that is added to burning coal to give fumes). The fumes also help to clean the air in the room and give warmth to the baby.

The baby is then dressed and is now ready for a nice rest!

It is best if the baby is breastfed after the Orai Marundu is given so that the medicines can be absorbed better by the infant.