At The Root Of It All

The ancestors of the Indonesian people have used a variety of plant species that naturally grow in the local environment to maintain health and to treat diseases in the form of drinks or external medicine called jamu. They believe God created natural healing properties in plants.

However, the existence of jamu cannot be separated from the philosophy of the Javanese people who see the disease on the basis of physical pain and non-physical pain. In the ‘Serat Centhini’ (1814) and the Serat Kawruh Bab Jampi-jampi Jawi (1831), it is revealed that in addition to various types of plants used for preparing jamu, the Jamu perparers also pray over the concoction with prayers invocation from holy verses of the Qur'an to complete the psychological or non-physical healing.    

Jamu cannot be compared with other medical treatments that require prerequisites such as clinical trials to obtain legality in trade. Jamu is a result of the history of civilization that cannot be separated from the life of Javanese culture (Suprana, 2013). 

Understanding this position is important so that jamu has independence as the intellectual property of the Indonesian people which has provided health benefits and has been proven throughout the history of Javanese civilization, from generation to generation.