When I went to India last month, I came across this charming courtyard in the center of the old town of Amdavad, a city of about 4-5 million inhabitants.
In an elaborately carved stone planter grew a big, old holy basil plant.
Although I knew that the Indian people assign a lot of importance to that plant, I have never seen one so well taken care of.

Many years ago while I was visiting my friend Manorama Sarabhai, I woke up one morning with a cold.
She prepared a basil tea for me which I liked very much, and it made me feel better.
I took the seeds back to Ishigaki, where we have a farm.

I planted them and ever since then these holy basil plants have been self-seeding here and there on our land.
I also planted two rows for the tea that we are selling at the Babaghuri Shop and our online shop.

Photos by JURGEN LEHL

Holy Basil is used in traditional Indian medicine for its healing properties.
It relieves stress, cleanses the blood, strengthens
the heart, and is given to children when they suffer from a fever or a cough.

For more interesting information, please look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocimum_tenuiflorum
http://hinduism.about.com/od/ayurveda/a/tulsibenefits.htm