page_title: Cannabis culture
section_title: India
hierarchical_section_title: Cannabis culture / Cultures / India
caption_attribution_description: English: Display Artist: Pemji Creation Date: ca. 1790 Display Dimensions: 8 1/16 in. x 11 7/8 in. (20.5 cm x 30.2 cm) Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection Accession Number: 1990.642 Collection: &lt;a href="http://www.sdmart.org/art/our-collection/asian-art" rel="nofollow"&gt;The San Diego Museum of Art&lt;/a&gt;
context_page_description: Cannabis culture describes a social atmosphere or series of associated social behaviors that depends heavily upon cannabis consumption, particularly as an entheogen, recreational drug and medicine.
  Historically cannabis has been used an entheogen to induce spiritual experiences - most notably in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2000 BCE. Its entheogenic use was also recorded in Ancient China, the Germanic peoples, the Celts, Ancient Central Asia, and Africa. In modern times, spiritual use of the drug is mostly associated with the Rastafari movement of Jamaica. Several Western subcultures have had marijuana consumption as an idiosyncratic feature, such as hippies, beatniks, hipsters, ravers and hip hop.
  Cannabis has now "evolved its own language, humour, etiquette, art, literature and music." Nick Brownlee writes: "Perhaps because of its ancient mystical and spiritual roots, because of the psychotherapeutic effects of the drug and because it is illegal, even the very act of smoking a joint has deep symbolism."
context_section_description: Cannabis is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. Cannabis is also known to have been used by the ancient Hindus of the Indian subcontinent thousands of years ago. The herb is called ganja (Sanskrit: गञ्जा, IAST: gañjā) or ganjika in Sanskrit and other modern Indo-Aryan languages. Some scholars suggest that the ancient drug soma, mentioned in the Vedas, was cannabis, although this theory is disputed.
  Today cannabis is often formed into bhang, which has become an integral part of tradition and custom in the Indian subcontinent. In some sections of rural India, people attribute various medicinal properties to the cannabis plant. If taken in proper quantity, bhang is believed to cure fever, dysentery, sunstroke, to clear phlegm, aid in digestion, appetite, cure speech imperfections and lisping, and give alertness to the body.
caption: Bhang eaters from India c. 1790.  Bhang is  an edible preparation of cannabis native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been used in food and drink as early as 1000 BCE by Hindus in ancient India.[27]
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