Thailam Names: List and Their Uses

The thailam names of Ayurveda run to the hundreds across the classical pharmacy texts, but a smaller group of oils is met again and again, and it is these that most people mean when they ask for a list of Ayurvedic thailams. This guide gathers the best known of them and sets out, in plain terms, the classical use each is remembered for. A word first on what a thailam is, and then the list itself, grouped by what the oils are for.

What a thailam is

A Thailam, spelled taila in Sanskrit, is a medicated oil. It is not a scented oil but a preparation in which the strength of a set of herbs has been cooked slowly into a base, most often til taila, sesame oil, until the oil itself carries the action of the herbs. The making follows the classical method of Taila Paka set out in the Sharangadhara Samhita, in which a decoction and a herbal paste are cooked into the warmed oil until the water is driven off and the sneha siddhi, the completion of the oil, is reached.

The names follow a pattern. An oil is usually named for its lead ingredient with the ending -adi, meaning “and the rest”. So Ksheerabala is the oil of ksheera, milk, and bala, the herb, and their company; Kumkumadi is the oil of kumkuma, saffron, and the rest. Sometimes the name records the base or the method instead: Ksheerabala tells you milk was used in the cooking, and a suffix such as Maha, great, marks a larger or stronger version of an oil, as in Mahanarayana. Once you know the pattern, most thailam names read as a short recipe, and the list below becomes easier to hold in mind.

How the oils are grouped

Before the list itself, it helps to know the broad families the tradition works with, because an oil is chosen first by family and only then by name. The great majority of the medicated oils are Vata-shamaka, warming oils built on a sesame base to settle the cold, dry, mobile quality of Vata in the joints, the muscles and the nervous tissue. A smaller set are cooling oils, built on cooling herbs and sometimes a cooling base, for heated, Pitta-led conditions. A further set are the beauty oils, for the skin and hair, and a small number are the specialised oils of the nose and the deeper therapies. Almost every well-known thailam falls into one of these groups, and the sections that follow are arranged by them.

The warming Vata oils of the joints and limbs

The largest group of the well-known oils are the warming, sesame-based oils that settle Vata in the joints, the lower back and the limbs. These are the oils of Sandhigata Vata and the broader Vata-vyadhi, and they are the mainstay of the massage and Panchakarma traditions.

Dhanwantharam thailam. Named for Dhanwantari, the physician of the gods, this is one of the great all-round Vata oils, used for the joints, the muscles and the nervous tissue, and much used in the care of the mother after childbirth.

Mahanarayana thailam. A famous strengthening Vata oil, built on a large company of herbs, reached for in stiffness and weakness of the joints and limbs.

Bala thailam and Ksheerabala thailam. Both built on bala, the strengthening herb, the second cooked with milk. They are nourishing Vata oils, gentle enough for wide use, and Ksheerabala in particular is valued for the nervous tissue and the head.

Sahacharadi thailam. Built on sahachara, this is a warming Vata oil reached for the lower limbs and the sciatic distribution.

Karpasasthyadi thailam. A strongly warming Vata oil, named for cotton seed among its ingredients, used for stiff, painful, Vata-heavy joints and the neck and shoulders.

Prasarini taila. Built on the prasarini creeper, whose spreading habit the tradition reads as a signature of restoring free movement to a stiffened limb.

The warming pain-relief oils

A smaller group of warming oils is reached for a quick, penetrating relief rather than long nourishment.

Kottamchukkadi thailam. A warming, aromatic oil for stiff, aching muscles and joints, much used in the southern tradition for a fast easing of stiffness.

Karpooradi thailam. Named for karpoora, camphor, an intensely aromatic, penetrating oil for stiff, cold, aching muscles.

Murivenna. A warming oil of the Kerala tradition, reached for the care of strained and injured muscles and the small joints.

The cooling oils

Not every thailam is warming. A few are built on cooling herbs and a cooling base for heated conditions.

Chandanadi thailam. Named for chandana, sandalwood, a cooling oil for the head and body where heat and burning lead, suited to aggravated Pitta.

Pinda thailam. A cooling oil cooked with beeswax and cooling herbs, reached for the hot, aching joints of Vatarakta, where warmth would aggravate the heat.

The beauty oils of the skin and hair

Ayurveda’s saundarya, its tradition of beauty, has its own famous oils.

Kumkumadi thailam. The renowned saffron face oil, built on kumkuma, saffron, and a company of skin-brightening herbs, used in the classical care of the complexion.

Eladi thailam. Named for ela, cardamom, a fragrant oil for the skin, valued for its aroma and its soothing, brightening character.

Nalpamaradi thailam. Built on the nalpamara, the four fig-family barks, a cooling oil traditionally used for the skin and the complexion.

Neelibhringadi and Bhringamalakadi. The classical hair oils, built on bhringaraja and supporting herbs, used in the care of the hair and scalp.

The oils of the nose and the special therapies

A few oils are not for the body at all but for the specialised therapies.

Anu taila. The classical Nasya oil, used as nose drops in the practice of nasal medication, for the head, the senses and the neck upward.

Ksheerabala 101. A specially prepared, many-times-cooked form of Ksheerabala, used internally in very small doses for the nervous tissue, strictly under supervision.

How the oils are made

Whatever their name, nearly all of these oils share a single method, the classical Taila Paka set out in the Sharangadhara Samhita. Three things are prepared: a decoction of the herbs, the kwatha, reduced down from water; a fine herbal paste, the kalka; and the base oil, usually sesame. These are combined, classically in the proportion of one part paste and four parts decoction to the measure of oil, and cooked slowly over a steady heat while the water is driven off and the strength of the herbs passes into the oil. The maker judges the stage of cooking by old signs, the behaviour of the paste rolled between the fingers, the colour and aroma of the oil, and the way the kalka burns when pressed. When the sneha siddhi, the completion, is reached, the oil is strained and stored. In the milk oils such as Ksheerabala a measure of milk joins the decoction; in the aromatic oils such as Karpooradi a volatile substance is added at the end so it is not lost to the heat. The method is one; the ingredients are what make each oil what it is.

How the oils are used

Most of these thailams are external oils, warmed gently and massaged over the affected part in Abhyanga, then followed by warmth such as a warm bath or a warm cloth so the oil settles. The cooling oils are applied at room temperature or only slightly warmed, since warmth would work against them. The Nasya oils are used in the nose, and the few internal oils are given only in small, supervised doses. The beauty oils are applied to the face, the skin or the scalp and left to soak in before washing.

Which oil suits depends first on the direction of the trouble, whether the picture is cold and dry, calling for a warming oil, or hot and inflamed, calling for a cooling one, and then on the part of the body concerned, the joints, the head, the skin or the nervous tissue, and on the constitution and the season. This is why the tradition holds so many named oils: each is shaped to a particular meeting of dosha, tissue and complaint.

A note on choosing

Choosing among the thailam names is not a matter of picking the most famous oil but of matching the oil to the person, the condition and the season, which is the work of a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner. Many of these oils are potent, several are used only within a wider therapeutic plan, and the internal oils in particular are given only under supervision. This guide gathers the names and the classical uses so that the list is easier to read, not as a guide to self-prescription.

This guide describes the classical tradition and is offered for education, not as medical advice.