Manjistha
A climbing plant whose thin red roots gave India one of its oldest dyes. Manjistha is the madder red of block-printed cloth, and one of the best-known herbs of the classical texts.
- Settles Pitta
- Settles Kapha
How Ayurveda reads manjistha
- Rasa · taste
- Bitter, astringent, sweet (tikta, kaṣāya, madhura)
- Guṇa · nature
- Heavy, dry (guru, rūkṣa)
- Vīrya · potency
- Heating (uṣṇa)
- Vipāka · after digestion
- Pungent (kaṭu)
- Part used
- Root and stem
Reviewed by the Vapika team.
In the tradition
The red of Indian madder runs through the country's textile history: the deep reds of Sanganer and Bagru prints and of ajrakh came from roots like these, long before chemical dyes. The same red is why the texts call it mañjiṣṭhā, and why it was counted among the herbs for the complexion (varṇya).
How Ayurveda reads it
Manjistha is bitter, astringent and sweet, heavy and dry, and heating, with a pungent after-digestion effect. It is described as settling Pitta and Kapha, and is one of the herbs the tradition turns to most for the skin and the complexion.
In the Indian kitchen
Not a kitchen herb. It is taken as a powder or a decoction, and is a common ingredient of traditional face packs.
How we use it
We use dried manjistha root in our Desi Tea – Garm Jal, where it adds an earthy, faintly bitter depth under the floral and spice notes.
Manjistha in our blends
From the texts: Bhāvaprakāśa Nighaṇṭu, Harītakyādi varga; Caraka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 4 (among the varṇya, the herbs for the complexion).
For learning, not diagnosis. If you are pregnant, nursing or on medication, please speak to your doctor first.