🌿 Contributing to Amidha Ayurveda – Open Herb Database (Beta)

Thank you for your interest in contributing to the Amidha Ayurveda Open Herb Database project! 🙏 This is an open, community-driven effort to digitize and organize Ayurvedic herbal knowledge for researchers, practitioners, and developers.

🧭 Project Overview

Repository: Amidha Ayurveda – Open Herb Database (Beta) DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17475352 Author: Sparsh Varshney License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

This project provides structured data on Ayurvedic herbs in JSON format. Each herb entry includes modern scientific details, Ayurvedic references, and usability for both academic and clinical contexts.

🧩 How You Can Contribute

Contributions are welcome from students, scholars, developers, and Ayurveda enthusiasts! Here’s how you can help:

1. 🪴 Add or Improve Herb Data

• Add new herbs with proper classical references and verified modern information.
• Improve existing entries (spelling, classification, new research data).
• Suggest structural improvements in the JSON schema.

2. 🧠 Suggest Features

Help improve the project scope by proposing new ideas such as:

• Filters (e.g., Rasa, Guna, Virya, Karma)
• Search and sort algorithms for front-end
• Integration with AI tools like ShlokaAI for Sanskrit–English translations or Ayurvedic inference
• Cross-linking with diseases, formulations, and research papers

3. 💻 Improve Documentation

You can:

• Fix typos or grammar
• Add missing explanations in README
• Write tutorials or usage examples for others

4. 🧪 Testing & Validation

• Verify data accuracy using authoritative Ayurvedic texts
• Report inconsistencies via GitHub Issues
• Suggest standardization (e.g., reference codes for Nighantus or texts)

⚙️ Contribution Workflow

1. Fork this repository

2. Clone your fork

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/herb-database.git
   

3. Create a new branch

   git checkout -b feature/new-herb
   

4. Make your changes (edit JSON files, documentation, etc.)

5. Commit and push

   git commit -m "Added data for [Herb Name]"
   git push origin feature/new-herb
   

6. Create a Pull Request on GitHub

🔍 Data Format Example

  {
    "name": "Ashwagandha",
    "link": "/p/ashwagandha.html",
    "preview": "Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a powerful adaptogen. It reduces stress, increases strength, and supports reproductive and nervous systems.",
    "pacify": ["Vata", "Kapha"],
    "aggravate": ["Pitta"],
    "tridosha": false,
    "rasa": ["Tikta", "Kashaya"],
    "guna": ["Guru", "Snigdha"],
    "virya": "Ushna",
    "vipaka": "Madhura",
    "prabhav": ["Balya", "Medhya", "Vrishya", "rasayan"]
  }

🪷 Guidelines

• Maintain accuracy and authenticity.
• Use IAST transliteration for Sanskrit terms.
• Respect open-data ethics — do not plagiarize or scrape copyrighted sources.
• Each herb must have at least one classical reference.

🧾 Citation

If you use this database in your research, please cite the specific version you used. You can find the correct BibTeX and other formats on the Zenodo DOI record.

The recommended citation for the Beta (v1.0) version is:

@dataset{varshney_sparsh_2025_17475352,
  author       = {Varshney, Sparsh},
  title        = {{Amidha Ayurveda – Open Herb Database (Beta)}},
  month        = nov,
  year         = 2025,
  publisher    = {Zenodo},
  version      = {1.0.0-beta},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.17475352},
  url          = {[https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17475352](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17475352)}
}

🤝 Code of Conduct

This project follows the Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct. Please be respectful, inclusive, and open to discussion.

🌍 Vision

💫 Join the Community

• 🌐 Website: Amidha Ayurveda
• 🧵 GitHub Discussions: Use the Discussions tab for Q&A
• ✉️ Contact: For bugs, please open an Issue. For questions, please start a Discussion.

Together, let’s digitize Ayurveda for the future. 🙌