Taila
Ayurvedic medicated oil: a vegetable oil, most often sesame, in which herbs have been cooked, used for massage and certain treatments.
Taila means “oil” in Sanskrit — the word derives from tila, sesame, which says everything about the place of this seed in the tradition. A medicated taila is a vegetable oil in which a herbal decoction and a herbal paste have been cooked at length, until the water evaporates and the oil concentrates the extracted compounds. It is the oily counterpart of ghrita (medicated ghee).
Tailas are used first and foremost externally: full-body massage (abhyanga), foot massage, scalp treatments, localised applications. Among the classics: mahanarayan taila for joints and muscles, bhringaraj taila for the hair, and the soothing ksheerabala taila for Vata. Some tailas are also used as nasal drops (nasya) or, more rarely and under supervision, internally.
In practice, to get started, a simple cold-pressed sesame oil, gently warmed, already does most of the work: see our how-to guide for abhyanga self-massage and our guide to massage oils by dosha. For a medicated taila, check the list of herbs, the base oil and the origin; always patch-test on the inside of the elbow before wider use, and avoid applying to broken skin. Once opened, an oil keeps away from heat and light for a few months at most.