Sacred Spice of Meghalaya: The Cultural Legacy of Lakadong Turmeric

              When you wander into the mist-wrapped hills of Meghalaya, you don’t just feel green—you think gold. Lakadong turmeric is so deeply woven into the culture of the Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo tribes that for many, it isn’t just spice; it’s sacred heritage. The roots of Lakadong turmeric extend beyond fields and farms, reaching into ceremony, healing rituals, and tribal identity. For generations, tribal healers (known locally as ‘U Tongs’ amongst Khasi) have used turmeric pastes for healing fresh wounds, insect bites, and skin ailments. The turmeric isn’t merely functional—it’s spiritual. It symbolizes purity, health, and connection to the land. Elder storytellers say the golden glow of Lakadong turmeric comes with the sunlight filtered through sacred hills and bush canopies.

              Cultural festivals give turmeric a symbolic presence. Harvest time is marked with gratitude offerings: offerings of food, turmeric, fruits, sometimes dances and songs that honour the soil. The act of sharing turmeric-based dishes—haldi-doodh or stews—is not just about nourishment, but about unity, healing, and tradition.

              What science confirms, tradition intuitively knew. The high curcumin of Lakadong (often over 7%) and its natural oils make it not only flavourful but genuinely medicinal. Studies confirm its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, supporting its traditional uses in wound-healing, immune boosting, and skin care. When elders apply turmeric paste on wounds, they aren’t just following ritual—they’re activating a compound string of bioactives with a scientific basis.

                Even art and daily life carry turmeric’s imprint. The bright yellow stain on palms during wedding ceremonies, turmeric-based body paint for decorations, turmeric oil used for grooming infants—these are legacies of turmeric’s cultural power.

                  The Government of Meghalaya, in awarding Lakadong its Geographical Indication (GI) tag in March 2024, recognized not just chemical uniqueness but cultural importance: the legacy of cultivating, preserving, and using Lakadong turmeric in traditional contexts.

              For modern consumers, this cultural depth adds value. Using Lakadong isn’t just buying a potent spice—it’s buying into a story of place, ritual, and people. When you cook with it, you inherit echoes of sky-dripping rains, cloud-waters on terraced fields, hands that passed seed to seed across generations.

                 Yet, with its rising prestige, there's a risk: commercialization that strips away authenticity, adulteration, and loss of ritual context. The GI tag protects the region and name, but not always the farming methods, aroma, soil, and stories. Buying fair, buying traceable, matters.

            Lakadong turmeric is more than curcumin and colour. It is culture, sacredness, identity. Every golden pinch carries more than flavour—it carries history, ritual, a sense that in eating, we partake in something timeless.