UDWARTHANAM
Udwarthanam or Powder massage: This massage is done with dry warm herbal powder from the limbs towards the heart. This is meant for better lymphatic drainage and thereby reduces the water collection in the body. At first suitable oils for the body and the head are applied and a gentle massage done on the body. Then the warm, dry coarse powder massaged upward which imparts friction on the skin and helps to dissolve the fatty layer below the skin. This is usually done by 3 persons and for 45 minutes. After the massage the patient is allowed to take rest for a few minutes and later a hot water bath is given.
The powder usually used is a mixture of the following herbs:
Sesame seeds
Horse gram
Cotton seeds
Castor roots
Mode of action 
This is mainly useful for reducing the amount of fat just under the skin layer. The warmth and the upward movements with rubbing help to dissolve the fatty layer and also to clean the skin. This gives good tone to the muscles and relieves the stiffness of the joints. 
Indications
To reduce body weight
To clean the skin off discolorations and scars as in chronic skin diseases
In early stages of nervous and muscular diseases
In inflammatory joint diseases etc.