Thalapothichil

Overview

Thalapothichil is the Ayurvedic head treatment in which a cool, thick medicated paste is spread over the whole scalp and left to rest. The name comes from the southern tongue, where thala points to the head and pothichil means to smear or to cover. So the name simply describes the act: covering the head with paste.

It sits among the Ayurvedic treatments of the head, alongside the oil massage of the scalp and Shirodhara, the steady pouring of warm oil onto the brow. Where those work by touch and by flow, thalapothichil works by rest. The paste is laid on, often held in place with a leaf or a soft cloth, and simply allowed to sit against the scalp.

Ayurveda gives the head a special importance. The texts call it the seat of the senses and of prana, the vital breath, so they hold that a treatment given to the head reaches further than the scalp it touches. Thalapothichil is the cooling, calming one among these treatments, reached for when the head feels hot, restless or overworked.

Why a paste, and why cool

The treatment is, at heart, a way of holding cooling herbs against the head for a long, quiet time.

A paste does this better than an oil. It stays where it is put, it keeps its cool through the session, and it covers the whole scalp at once. Most thalapothichil pastes are built to be cooling, because the complaints it traditionally answers are warm ones, the restless, overheated quality the texts read as Pitta settling in the head. So the herbs are the cooling, calming kind, and the liquid that binds them, often a cool medicated oil, buttermilk or a herbal decoction, is chosen to keep the whole preparation cool and soft.

The herbs most often named are the quiet, settling ones: brahmi, long valued for the mind and the nerves; jatamansi, the aromatic root of the high mountains; and amalaki, the cooling fruit. Their character is calm, not stimulating.

How it is made and applied

The paste is usually made fresh. Dried herbs are powdered, then worked with the chosen cool liquid until they reach a thick, even consistency, thick enough to stay on the scalp, smooth enough to spread.

The person sits or reclines comfortably. The scalp is prepared with a light touch, sometimes a gentle cleansing, and then the paste is laid on, beginning at the crown and worked out across the whole head until it forms an even cover. A leaf, a cloth or a soft band is often wrapped over it to hold it close and steady.

There it rests. The classical range runs from about half an hour up to two hours, judged by the paste, the season and the person, with the shorter time for a mild, gentle effect and the longer for a deeper one. At the end the paste is washed off with warm water or a mild decoction and the scalp is cleaned. Afterwards the person is asked to rest, to keep out of harsh weather and bright glare, and not to strain the mind for a while.

Fitted to the person

As with all Ayurvedic treatment, the paste is matched to the individual. For a Pitta head, hot and restless, the coolest, most calming herbs and a milk- or buttermilk-based paste are favoured. For a Vata head, where dryness and unsettledness show, more grounding and nourishing herbs with a soft oily base are used. For a Kapha head, a lighter, less heavy paste is chosen, so the treatment settles without adding to the heaviness already there. The season shapes the choice too, the cooling preparations coming forward in the warm months.

Thalapothichil is rarely given on its own. It usually sits within a wider course, after an oil massage, perhaps alongside swedana or Nasya, the parts arranged in the order the classical texts set out so they build on one another.

When it is set aside

The tradition holds the treatment back in a fever, in any sore or broken condition of the scalp, and where a person is known to react to one of the herbs, in which case that herb is simply left out. It belongs in the hands of a trained practitioner, who reads the person and the head before laying on any paste.

This entry describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of the treatment. It is not medical advice, and anyone with a health concern should speak to a qualified practitioner.

Frequently asked

How is it different from Shirodhara? Shirodhara pours a steady stream of warm oil onto the brow; thalapothichil lays a still, cool paste over the whole scalp and lets it rest. One works by flow and warmth, the other by stillness and coolness.

Why is the paste usually cool? Because the head complaints it traditionally answers are warm, restless ones, read as Pitta gathering in the head. The cooling paste is the classical foil to that heat. When dryness rather than heat is the issue, a softer, more nourishing paste is used instead.

How long is the paste left on? Somewhere between about half an hour and two hours, judged by a practitioner, with a shorter time for a gentle effect and a longer one when a deeper rest is wanted.