Description

Neela Thotha — blue vitriol — is the mineralogical designation for copper sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO₄·5H₂O), occurring naturally as vivid azure-blue triclinic crystals in the oxidation zones of copper ore deposits, and produced commercially by dissolving copper or copper oxide in dilute sulfuric acid. Known in Ayurvedic Rasa Shastra as Tuttha and in Unani pharmacopoeia as Tutia, this mineral has been used in traditional South Asian, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman medicine for over two millennia. In classical Ayurveda, processed Tuttha — subjected to rigorous Shodhana (detoxification) procedures including heat processing with specific herbal media — is incorporated in ophthalmic Anjana preparations and external skin formulations cited in the Sushruta Samhita. Extreme caution governs its handling and pharmaceutical preparation due to inherent copper toxicity.