Lavender
The purple flower spikes of a Mediterranean herb, now grown in Jammu and Kashmir. Floral and soft, lavender is always used in small amounts.
How Ayurveda reads lavender
- Part used
- Flower
Reviewed by the Vapika team.
In the tradition
Lavender is not an Ayurvedic herb. It is from the Mediterranean, where it has been used in baths, linens and kitchens for centuries. In India, it is grown today in the hills of Jammu and Kashmir, around Bhaderwah above all, where farmers took it up under a government aroma programme from the late 2010s.
Unani medicine, which came to India from Persia, uses a related species, Lavandula stoechas, under the name ustukhuddus.
How we read it
Because the classical texts don't describe lavender, this page gives it no rasa, guṇa or vīrya. By taste, it is bitter and aromatic.
In the kitchen
A few dried flowers in shortbread, honey, lemonade or ice cream. More than a few, and it tastes of soap.
How we use it
We use dried culinary lavender, in small amounts, in our Brahmi & Lavender and Shatavari & Ashwagandha kahwas.
From the texts: Not described in the classical Ayurvedic texts. Unani medicine uses a related species, Lavandula stoechas, as ustukhuddus.
For learning, not diagnosis. If you are pregnant, nursing or on medication, please speak to your doctor first.