Mandoor Shodhana - A Bird Eye Review

Mandoor (Iron Oxide) is important in Rasashastra as a Dravya from Upadhatu Varg.  It is widely used in Ayurveda therapeutics for the treatment of Pandu Roga, Kamala Roga, Rajakshaya and Raktakshaya. Mandoor is found buried inside the earth’s land and is said to be of mineral origin. Thus, it becomes important to get rid of physical and chemical impurities in Mandoor and make it potent for using it in therapeutics. To serve the necessity, Shodhana procedure is mentioned in classical texts of Ayurveda. The physical and chemical changes occurring during Shodhana make Mandoor suitable for the therapeutic use. In the classical texts of Ayurveda and Rasashastra numerous Shodhana procedures for Mandoor are found mentioned. So here an attempt was made to review various Shodhana procedures for Mandoor.  In this context eighteen Vishesh Shodhana methods and a Samanya Shodhana found mentioned in different texts. A thorough review was carried out for the Shodhana procedures.