1. Civil Engineering Applications
of
Indian Herbs
Dr. A. S. Nene
Professor of Civil Engineering (Retd),
VNIT Nagpur

2. Normally engineers are not concerned
with botany. But one can find descriptions
of trees, plants, fruits related to
engineering applications, in many ancient
texts.

3. Different herbal formulations were
used by ancient Indian craftsmen to
improve the quality of their products.
Engineering applications of botany
can be grouped under following
heads.

4. APPLICATIONS
1.Stone softening 2a.Bricks and Roofing tiles
2b.Earthen pots 2c.Ceramic pots
2d.Glazing of earthen pots 2e. Coloring of Clay pots
3.Lime Mortar 4a-Sunla
4b-Waterproof lime mortar 4c- Leveling coat of lime plaster
5. Tempering of tools 6. Varnish
7. Natural Colors 8.Waterproof cloth
9.Preservation of Ropes 10. Adobe floors
11. Adamantine Glue

5. 1. Herbal paints for stone softening
•Mix powder atis root, Hiracus and red ochre
in milk. Apply this paint to the stone and keep
it overnight.
•Grind Jatamasi,Koshta, Gayaratri Hirkus and
chor in milk add coconut water. Apply the
solution to the stone.
•Grind and mix Jatamasi,Rog and
Aswamari in rain water. Apply the
solution to the stone.

6. Fig.1- stone softening

7. 2a Bricks and Roofing tiles
Mix extracts of barks of trees (Pipal and
Agar) in wet clay . Knead the clay daily
for 30 day and the use for bricks or
roofing tiles.

8. Fig.2a- Bricks and Roofing tiles

9. 2b Earthen pots
Mix floor of Satu, powder of Amaksh
,Tatwasi and coconut water to clay in a
proportion of 8 parts of clay and 1 part
of admixtures.

10. Fig.2b- Earthen pots

11. 2c. Ceramic pots
Prepare a mixture of Swesha,Guggul and
Kunda grass (one sixteenth of clay) and
curd (one eleventh of clay). Apply this
mixture to clay pot before baking in a
furnace.

12. Fig.2c- Ceramic pots

13. 2d. Glazing of earthen pots
Apply a mixture of Ghee, honey and
Herb powder (Kapittha, Bilwa and
Niryas ) to clay pots. This process
imparts glazing to the china clay pots.

14. Fig.2d- Glazing of earthen pots

15. 2e. Coloring of Clay pots
Mix sesame powder and resins of Kapittha and
Beal trees. Add desired coloring agent
(Kushta, Red ochure, orpiment etc). Polish the
pot with the mixture to impart suitable color.
Alternatively take equal parts of Sandlewood,
Karpur, Gorochan and Agaru . Add clay 6 parts
to the mixture in linseed oil. Apply this oil
paint to earthen pots.

16. Fig.2e- Coloring of Clay pots

17. Fig.2e- painting ivory

18. 3.Lime Mortar
Grind ripe bananas, fibers of cotton and
pulp of cactus and mix in slaked lime to
make a good quality lime mortar.
Alternatively add decoction of barks of
trees( Pipal. Amla,Kadamb) and paste of
black gram to the slaked lime.

19. Fig.3 – Lime Mortar

20. 4a-Sunla
Curd, milk, black gram paste, gud, ghee,
ripe bananas, coconut and mango pulp
are added to slake lime. Plaster made of
these materials is non-shrinking and
waterproof.

21. Fig.4a- Sunla or Lime Putty

22. 4b-Waterproof lime mortar
Mix Ghee, coconut water, black gram
paste , extract of barks(Pipal), milk,
curd, decoction of Trifala, and Pichhit,
in proportion of 3,,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and
11 parts to 100 parts of slaked lime.

23. Fig.4b- Waterproof lime mortar

24. 4c: Leveling coat of lime plaster
M ix 3 parts of slaked lime and 1 part of
powder of dry unripe banana. Add water
to make butter like mixture. Such leveling
coat gives marble finish to the wall surface

25. Fig.4c- Leveling coat of lime plaster

26. 5. Tempering of steel cutting tools
Milk of plant (Rui-Milky hedge),ash of
sheep’s horn, excreta of pigeon is mixed
in oil and mixture is applied to the tool
which then heated and sharpened for long
term sharpness. Alternatively banana ash
is mixed in butter milk. The tool is kept
immersed in the mixture overnight and
then sharpened. Such tool can cut steel
also.

27. Fig. 5- Tempering of steel cutting tools

28. 6. Varnish
Extract of barks of milky trees
(Vat,Pipal,Umber, Beal and cedar trees)
is mixed in water. Mixture is boiled and
sealing wax, Jatuling and Hingul is added
to the oil. Such varnish is applied to wood
for polishing and preservation.

29. Fig.6- Varnish

30. 7. Natural Colors
Select wood of suitable colors from
forest. Crush into clean water. Filter the
mixture. Again crush the filtered wood
particles and repeat the procedure and
store the liquid color in an earthen pot.

31. Fig.7- Natural Colors

32. 8. Waterproof cloth for hot air balloons
Apply three coats of decoction of barks of
trees (Umber, Kadamb, Mango , Hirda and
Behda) to the cloth. Then apply three coats
of black gram paste Soak the cloth in solution
of sugar and powders sea shells. Allow the
cloth to dry to make it water tight.

33. Fig.8- Waterproof cloth

34. 9. Preservation of Ropes
Soak the freshly woven rope in coconut
oil mixed with ripe bananas and hide
glue.

35. Fig.9- Preservation of Ropes

36. 10. Adobe floors
Floors made from poured and toweled mud,
are softer and warmer to the touch than tiles
or cement, and carry the rich colors of
natural earth. Various additives have been
tested to make adobe floors easy to create and
maintain. One such additive is made from
psyllium hulls ( Isabgol.) This additive makes
the mud easy to work and acts as a binder
when the floor dries. It reduces cracking and
increases strength.

37. Floors made from poured and toweled mud

38. 11. Adamantine Glue
A bonding agent was very essential for fixing idols,
in wall construction, when cement and other
modern materials were unknown. Even now these
glues are known as Astabandha, are prepared in
temple premises for fixing or re-fixing images of
gods. Four such glues are described below.

39. Formula Explained in Shilparatnakar
The ingredients are unripe fruits of Tinduka
(Diospyros paniculata) and Kapittaka
(Feronia elephantum), flowers of silk cotton
(Morus Acedosa) seeds of Sallaki (Boswellia
serrata), barks of Dhanavana and Vaca (Orris
root).

40. Table Ingredients
Sn Sanskrit English/ Latin
1 Tinduka Fruits of Diospyros paniculata
2 Kapittaka Feronia elephantum
3 Shalmali Flowers of silk cotton
4 Sallaki Seeds of Boswellia serrata
5 Dhanavana Barks of Orris root
6 Vacha Barks of Orris root
7 Shrivasaka A tree resin used as incense
8 Raktabola Myrrh
9 Guggulu Commiphora roxburghii
10 Bhallataka Semecarpus anacardium
11 Kunduruka Deodar tree resin
12 Atasi Linum usikatissimum
13 Bilvaphal Fruits of Aegle marmelos

41. 12. Water treatment
Ancient texts mentions use of powder
of Nirmali seeds to remove the
turbidity of water, roots of Khus plant
to give pleasant smell to drinking water
and certain seeds to kill the bacteria
present in the water. Use of Basil leaf
was known for increasing self life
potted water. Core of Jamun tree
wood acts as algaecide which destroys
the algae in 24 hours

42. CASE STUDIES
A. Gadhi soils – white soil
The main constituents are local soil, fine
sand, cow dung, quick lime, extracts of
Belphal , fibers of jute and water for
mixing. The mixture is allowed to mature
for a minimum period of 30 days and
kneaded every day.

44. B. Mud flooring
The floors of Padmanabhapurum palace
(1601 A.D) in Kerala were made of a
material that is unique blend of burnt
coconut shells, quick lime, palm toddy, the
whites of eggs and extracts of certain
barks of trees and nuts.

46. Conclusions
•It can be concluded that artisans of ancient
India were well acquainted with the basic
principles of engineering and properties of
herbs.
• Many of these techniques may be
impracticable or irrelevant due modern
products and processes, but one must
appreciate the ancient Indian wisdom.

47. References
1. Aparajitprichha- (12th to 13th Century A.D)
2. Manasollas –(1113 AD)
3. Matsyapooran
4. Mayamat
5. Pade S.D. (1973), “Vanoushadhi Gunadarsh “
6. Rig Veda Sakaladhikar, - by Sage Agasta
7. Samarangana Sutradhara
8. Shilpratna-(16th Century, A.D.),
9. Tantrasamuchhyaya-(1428 A.D.)
10. Varahsamhita- Brihatsamhita
11. Varahsamhita- Brihatsamhita
12. Vastu Vidya Savyakhya
13. Vishnu-dharmottara Pooran
14. Yajurved Samhita (B.C.2500)

48. Modern References
1.Vaze,K.V. (1924),“ Prachin Hindi Shilpasar”
(Essence of ancient Indian Engineering
Philosophy) ,a Marathi Book, Pub. ,Varada
Publications Pune.
2.Nene,A.S. (2009),” Geotechnical
engineering of ancient India”, Pub. Pune
Vidyarthi Gruha, Pune.