Formulations
Dinesavalyadi Thailam
Dinesavalyadi Thailam is a classical Ayurvedic oil with a cooling character. It is one of the oils the tradition keeps for a body that is dry and depleted but also warm and irritable.
- Part used
- The whole oil, cooked with the herb paste and decoction
- Taste (rasa)
- Mostly bitter, with a sweet undertone (tikta, madhura)
- Quality (guna)
- Oily and cooling (snigdha, shita)
- Energy (virya)
- Cooling (shita)
- After digestion (vipaka)
- Pungent after digestion (katu)
- Action (karma)
- Settles Vata, cools Pitta, soothing to skin and joints
What it is
Dinesavalyadi Thailam is a thailam, a medicated oil. In Ayurveda that word means more than oil. It means an oil that has been slowly cooked with a herbal decoction and a herbal paste, until the qualities of the plants pass into the oil and stay there. What you are left with carries the action of the herbs, not just their scent.
What makes this oil unusual is its temperament. Most of the famous massage oils are warming. Dinesavalyadi Thailam is built to be cooling. It is cooked with herbs of a soothing, settling nature, on a base that does not add heat. That puts it in a particular corner of the tradition, kept for one situation in particular: when there is both the dryness of Vata and the warmth that belongs to Pitta.
What it is used for
The oil is used in abhyanga, the practice of oiling and massaging the body. Massage with a medicated oil is one of the oldest parts of Ayurveda. The point of it is to soften and settle the body, and the choice of oil decides what the massage does.
Dinesavalyadi Thailam is chosen when a plain warming oil would be too much. The texts reach for a cooling oil where there is a feeling of heat in the skin or the joints, where the body is irritable rather than simply cold and tired. So this oil holds a difficult balance. It is nourishing and oily, the way an oil should be for dry Vata, but cool rather than hot, so it does not stir up Pitta. Few oils manage both at once, which is why the cooling oils are named and kept separately in the tradition.
Its qualities, in plain words
Ayurveda describes every preparation by a short list of qualities, and for this oil they are the whole story. It is oily and nourishing, so it feeds a dry body rather than drying it further. It is cooling, the quality the texts call shita, which is the opposite of nearly every other massage oil and the reason it suits heat. And its herbs carry a bitter, settling taste, the kind Ayurveda associates with calming irritation. Warm enough to relieve dry Vata, cool enough to leave Pitta alone: that pairing is the whole purpose of the oil.
How it is made
The oil is made by the classical method called taila paka, the cooking of oil. There are three parts to it, and they are brought together over gentle heat.
First a kashayam, a decoction, is made by boiling the herbs in water and reducing the liquid down. Second a kalka, a soft paste, is ground from the herbs. Third these are added to the oil base, and the whole is cooked slowly. The water is allowed to steam off completely, so that what remains is oil that has taken up the herbs and nothing watery that could spoil it. The maker watches for the classical signs of a finished oil: the paste forms a soft ball that holds its shape, the froth settles, and the oil takes on the clear colour and aroma of the herbs.
The oil is then strained clear and kept in a clean, dark vessel. Made and stored this way, a medicated oil keeps for a long time.
Good to know
This is an external oil, used in massage. It is warmed gently to a mild, comfortable heat before it is applied, never made hot, since strong heat would work against its cooling nature. The classical place for a cooling oil is the warmer seasons, and for people in whom heat is already present. In cold, dry weather the tradition would more often choose a warming oil instead.
This entry describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of the oil. It is not medical advice, and anyone with a health condition should speak to a qualified practitioner.
Frequently asked
Is Dinesavalyadi Thailam a warming or cooling oil? Cooling. That is its defining feature. Most massage oils are warming, so this one is kept for situations where warmth and irritation are present and a hot oil would not suit.
How is it used? As a massage oil, in abhyanga. It is warmed slightly and worked into the skin. It is for external use, not taken by mouth.
Why cook the oil with herbs at all? Because cooking lets the qualities of the herbs settle into the oil and stay stable. A medicated oil carries the action of the plants in a form that keeps well and absorbs into the body.
An oil cooked with cooling herbs is given where heat and pain are found together.
After the Sahasrayogam, on the medicated oils
Frequently asked questions
What is Dinesavalyadi Thailam used for?
Dinesavalyadi Thailam is a cooling classical medicated oil, cooked with soothing herbs and reached for when the dryness of Vata meets the heat of Pitta. It is traditionally used to settle Vata and cool Pitta, soothing the skin and joints. Its mostly bitter, faintly sweet character suits inflamed, irritated conditions where warming oils would not fit.
How do you use Dinesavalyadi Thailam?
As a Thailam it is a medicated oil applied externally in gentle Abhyanga, massage, over the affected skin or joints, and it may be used in therapies such as dhara. Being cooling, it suits warm, irritated conditions. For a specific skin or joint complaint, the way and frequency of use are best guided by a qualified practitioner.
Which dosha is Dinesavalyadi Thailam for?
This oil suits combined Vata and Pitta states, settling the dryness and movement of Vata while cooling the heat of Pitta. Unlike many warming medicated oils, its cooling, bitter and lightly sweet nature makes it fitting where there is heat, irritation or inflammation alongside Vata dryness in the skin and joints, rather than cold Kapha heaviness.
Is Dinesavalyadi Thailam good for skin conditions?
In the classical tradition its cooling, soothing action makes it a reach for hot, irritated skin and for joints troubled by combined Vata and Pitta. The soothing herbs in a cooling base calm heat and dryness together. For any lasting or spreading skin condition, use it under a qualified practitioner and consult your doctor as well.
Can Dinesavalyadi Thailam be used on the joints?
Yes, as a Vata-settling, Pitta-cooling oil it is applied to joints where dryness and heat sit together, easing stiffness and irritation through gentle Abhyanga. Its cooling nature suits inflamed, warm joints better than a purely warming oil. Because joint complaints vary, the manner and frequency of application are best set by a qualified practitioner.
References
- Sahasrayogam, Taila Prakarana, on the classical medicated oils.
- Sharangadhara Samhita, Madhyama Khanda, on taila paka (the cooking of oils).
- Ashtanga Hridayam, Sutrasthana, on cooling oils and the management of Pitta.