Notthetag at 14:08, 25 January 2026

2026-01-25T14:08:03Z

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{{Short description|Traditional Indian medicine}}
[[File:Lekiyam.jpg|thumb|260x260px|A small quantity of lekiyam served in a bowl.]]
'''Lehyam''' ({{Langx|sa|लेह्य|lit=food to be licked|translit=Lēhya}}),<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2018-05-27 |title=Lehya, Lēhya: 12 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/lehya |access-date=2022-10-21 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> also referred to as '''Lekiyam''' ({{Langx|ta|லேகியம்|translit=Lēkiyam}}) refers to a traditional Indian [[electuary]] or confection.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weiss |first=Richard S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoA8DwAAQBAJ&dq=lehyam+siddha&pg=PA85 |title=Recipes for Immortality: Healing, Religion, and Community in South India |date=2009-02-19 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-533523-1 |pages=85 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=Saligrama Krishna Ramachandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QRvzRGn9QqkC&dq=lehyam+south+india&pg=PA92 |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Medicine |date=2005 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7154-255-0 |pages=92 |language=en}}</ref>

== Classification ==
Classified as a product of [[Siddha medicine]], lehyam is regarded to be a healthy body tonic, consumed to resolve digestive and respiratory problems, comprising ingredients that are easily absorbed by the body.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Sen |first1=Saikat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YtGuDwAAQBAJ&dq=lehyam+medicine&pg=PA17 |title=Herbal Medicine in India: Indigenous Knowledge, Practice, Innovation and its Value |last2=Chakraborty |first2=Raja |date=2019-09-10 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-981-13-7248-3 |pages=17–18 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

== Ingredients and preparation ==
[[File:Ginger Lehyam.jpg|thumb|A ball of inji (ginger) lehyam upon a palm.]]
Lehyam is prepared using powdered medicine, [[jaggery]], sugar, honey, in an aqueous medium of water. [[Ghee]] is often added as a preserving agent, and after preparation, the food may be rolled into small balls and left to harden within a vessel, edible for up to a year.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Hollen |first=Cecilia Van |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zXQLniMFVbIC&dq=lekiyam+siddha&pg=PA259 |title=Birth on the Threshold: Childbirth and Modernity in South India |date=2003-10-16 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-22359-2 |pages=259 |language=en}}</ref>

== Variations and uses ==
Various forms of lehyam exist, and are named for their ingredients, and offer different properties. For instance, in [[Tamil Nadu]], ''inji lekiyam'', for which the salient ingredient is [[ginger]], is offered to a new mother shortly after her delivery.<ref>{{Cite book |last=General |first=India Office of the Registrar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrTUAAAAMAAJ&q=inji+lekiyam |title=Census of India, 1961 |date=1962 |publisher=Manager of Publications |pages=9 |language=en}}</ref> ''Thaneervittan'' (type of asparagus called [[Asparagus racemosus|shatavari]]) ''legiyam'' and ''sowbhagiyasundi'' (dry ginger powder) ''legiyam'' are used similarly.<ref name=":2" /> ''Nellikai lekiyam'', for which the salient ingredient is [[Phyllanthus acidus|star gooseberry]], is offered to children to boost their immunity.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=MD(S) |first1=Dr P. Mirunaleni |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hlsVEAAAQBAJ&dq=nellikai+legiyam&pg=PA31 |title=TRADITIONAL PARENTING - PARENTING IN A SIDDHA WAY |last2=B.S.M.S |first2=Dr S. Dhivyabharathi |last3=MD(S) |first3=Dr B. Shalini |date=2021-01-19 |publisher=Darshan Publishers |isbn=978-93-86739-51-3 |pages=16, 31 |language=en}}</ref>

In South India, lehyam is often prepared and purchased on the occasion of [[Diwali|Deepavali]] to aid the digestion, and counteract the effects, of eating sweets during the festival.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-10-28 |title=Making of the legiyam |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/For-the-love-of-legiyam/article16084496.ece |access-date=2022-10-21 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> According to ''[[The Hindu]]'', Deepavali legiyam, or Deepavali marundhu, is popular in [[Chennai]], and made in many households at festival time.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Srinivasan |first=Shenbagalakshmi |date=2015-11-05 |title=How to make… Deepavali legiyam |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/how-to-make-deepavali-legiyam/article7845876.ece |access-date=2022-10-25 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

''Ciṭṭukkuruvi lēkiyam'', prepared from [[House sparrow|sparrow meat]], was once consumed for [[aphrodisiac]]al purposes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Susainathan, P. |year=1921 |title=Bird friends and foes of the farmer. Bulletin No. 81 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.219743/page/n38/mode/1up |publisher=Department of Agriculture |page=22 |authorlink=P.S. Nathan |place=Madras}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Indian medicine (disambiguation)|Traditional medicine of India]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Ayurveda]]
[[Category:Siddha medicine]]
[[Category:Diwali]]
[[Category:Traditional medicine in India]]

Lehyam - Revision history

Notthetag at 14:08, 25 January 2026