BAHEDA CHAAL

Famed as one of the trio of rejuvenating dry fruits that constitute the miraculous Triphala formulation, Baheda, or Bibhitaki is a classical ayurvedic ingredient that is extremely beneficial in relieving respiratory anomalies while balancing all the three doshas (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha) and nourishing the dhatus within the body.
The word Bibhitaki or Vibheetaki consists of two words, where ‘Vibheeta’ means ‘lack of fear’ and ‘ki’ denotes the ‘fruit’. So, the name of this herbal ingredient symbolizes ‘the fruit which takes away fear of diseases’ since it is deemed as the ultimate remedy for most health anomalies. It forms an important part of the magical Triphala churna which is composed of a blend of dried fruits of Amalaki (Emblica Officinalis), Haritaki (Terminalia Chebula) and Bibhitaki (Terminalia Bellirica) in appropriate proportion bestowing one with amazing therapeutic properties.
Coming from a medicinal deciduous tree of the Combretacea family, Baheda goes by the botanical name Terminalia bellerica and is indigenous to tropical Asia including India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In India, it is mostly found in the plain dry forests of Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. The plant is usually found flourishing in scattered forests, upper layer trees of stream valleys, lower seasonal rain forests, sunny mountain slopes, monsoon forests, and mixed deciduous forests, and thrives best on fertile, loamy soils with good drainage.
Baheda is a tree of deciduous origin that grows to a height of up to 12-50 metres and a diameter of 3 metres with a roundish-oval crown. It usually has a buttressed trunk at the base with branches of up to 20 metres in length. The bark is usually 10-20 mm thick, bluish or ashey-grey in colour and covered with numerous fine longitudinal cracks and yellowish inner marks on the bark. Leaves of this tree are large, globous, elliptic and are alternately arranged on the twigs and clustered towards the end of the branches. Flowers are simple and solitary and are usually white or yellow in colour with a strong honey-like odour. One unique thing about the baheda tree is that upper part flowers are male whereas the lower part flowers are either bisexual or female. Fruits are usually in the form of drupes, grey-coloured and ovoid-shaped and are covered with minute pale pubescence enclosing one stony hard seed within. The fruits are quite similar to that of haritaki but without longitudinal ridges.