Hemp used in construction
Recently archaeological experts in India announced that a mixture of hemp, clay and lime plaster is what protected the famous heritage site of Ellora in India. For the uninitiated, hemp is nothing but cannabis sativa. And everyone knows what cannabis is famous for. In Hindi speak, it is known as ganja. Anyone who has tried it during the holi festival will know that, after ingesting it in sufficient quantity, if you smile you will keep on smiling, if you dance you will dance to eternity, if you laugh, you will go on and on, so on and so forth. The kick kicks in unannounced, one moment you are normal and in a jiffy you are 2 feet above the ground. You forget all your troubles and you are living in the moment. It is worse than alcohol and beware, very addictive and life destroying. You cannot stand on your own feet and will be literally swaying in the wind.
Anyways this not about the cannabis addiction. It is about the hidden uses of hemp which were known in ancient India. The experts say that wherever they took samples in Ellora, they found the same mixture and the hemp was always found to be about 10% of the mix. This was found to have protected the famous Ellora caves from the ravages of centuries when it was exposed to the extremes of nature. Due to this, the experts say, no insect activity is found in Ellora caves. And let me tell you guys that hemp is not at all addictive. Though it belongs to the same species as cannabis, it contains very minute amount of the addictive ingredient in marijuana. In fact use of hemp as a construction material has caught on in the West and there it is known as hempcrete. Although the French are credited with using it first in the modern world, it seems that it was used quite liberally in the ancient world and this usage is found from India to Egypt to Greece.
So it is a story of twin plants, one twin giving strength to the buildings built by the bipedal mammal whereas the other twin turning out to be the black sheep of the family and making the same bipedal mammal to sway on his two dainty feet.
Yatin
Recently archaeological experts in India announced that a mixture of hemp, clay and lime plaster is what protected the famous heritage site of Ellora in India. For the uninitiated, hemp is nothing but cannabis sativa. And everyone knows what cannabis is famous for. In Hindi speak, it is known as ganja. Anyone who has tried it during the holi festival will know that, after ingesting it in sufficient quantity, if you smile you will keep on smiling, if you dance you will dance to eternity, if you laugh, you will go on and on, so on and so forth. The kick kicks in unannounced, one moment you are normal and in a jiffy you are 2 feet above the ground. You forget all your troubles and you are living in the moment. It is worse than alcohol and beware, very addictive and life destroying. You cannot stand on your own feet and will be literally swaying in the wind.
Anyways this not about the cannabis addiction. It is about the hidden uses of hemp which were known in ancient India. The experts say that wherever they took samples in Ellora, they found the same mixture and the hemp was always found to be about 10% of the mix. This was found to have protected the famous Ellora caves from the ravages of centuries when it was exposed to the extremes of nature. Due to this, the experts say, no insect activity is found in Ellora caves. And let me tell you guys that hemp is not at all addictive. Though it belongs to the same species as cannabis, it contains very minute amount of the addictive ingredient in marijuana. In fact use of hemp as a construction material has caught on in the West and there it is known as hempcrete. Although the French are credited with using it first in the modern world, it seems that it was used quite liberally in the ancient world and this usage is found from India to Egypt to Greece.
So it is a story of twin plants, one twin giving strength to the buildings built by the bipedal mammal whereas the other twin turning out to be the black sheep of the family and making the same bipedal mammal to sway on his two dainty feet.
Yatin
No comments:
Post a Comment