Herbal medicine harnesses the therapeutic properties of natural compounds, providing a sustainable approach to healthcare. Due to its limited aqueous solubility, therapeutic potential remains largely unexplored. The enhanced therapeutic potential of the herbal drug entails meticulous formulation and an effective drug delivery matrix. In this study, we formulated a hydrogel system based on Carboxymethylcellulose to deliver the herbal drug, J. adhatoda. The phytochemicals in the J. adhatoda extract involved in the crosslinking of the hydrogel via hydrogen bonding resulted from the interaction with the hydroxyl and carboxyl group of the polymeric chains, confirmed by the FT-IR studies. Rheological studies demonstrated improved mechanical properties with increasing extract concentration (20 μg to 100 μg), with yield stress increasing from 58.83 Pa to 121.5 Pa. The hydrogels exhibited significant antimicrobial activity, reducing biofilm formation against S. aureus, E. faecalis, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae by 71 %, 68 %, 61 %, and 57 %. Antioxidant activity improved with extract concentration, increasing from 29 % to 74 %. The optimal anticancer activity of the hydrogels showed IC