Bhang

Bhang is an edible preparation of cannabis. Traditionally it has been used in food and drink for centuries dating far back as 2000 BCE in the Indian subcontinent. Bhang in India and Nepal is distributed during some Hindu festivals like Holi, Janmashtami, Shivratri, and consuming bhang at such occasions is common.

Bhang is an edible form of cannabis which has been used in India since before the Vedic period, and is an integral part of Indian Hindu culture. Hindu monks make use of the effects of bhang to boost meditation and to achieve transcendental states. In the ancient text Atharvaveda, Bhang is described as a beneficial herb that "releases anxiety". Hindus associate it with their most powerful deity Shiva. One of Shiva's epithets was "Lord of Bhang" as he is said to have discovered the transcendental properties of the mixture. Legend has it that Shiva brought bhang from the Himalayas for the pleasure of mankind.

A famous Greek historian Herodotus who lived in the 4th century B.C. mentions the use of bhang among Indians. A 15th century Indian document refers to Bhang as light hearted, joyful, and inspirational spiritually to the mind and body. India’s holy men ritually use Bhang in order to facilitate communication with their deities. According to a legend, Siddhartha Gautama lived on a daily ration of one bhang seed and nothing else during his six years of asceticism.

In 1596, Dutchman Jan Huyghen van Linschoten wrote three pages on "Bangue" in a work documenting his journeys in the East, also mentioning the Egyptian Hashish, Turkish Boza, Turkish Bernavi, and Arabic Bursj forms of consumption. The historian Richard Davenport-Hines lists Thomas Bowrey as the first Westerner to document the use of bhang.

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