Oil-massage traditions
How abhyanga fits within oil-based traditions while remaining distinct in its Ayurvedic context.
Warm oil, long strokes, and whole-body sequences appear in more than one tradition, but similar methods do not make those traditions interchangeable. Abhyanga belongs within Ayurveda, with its own preparation, sequence, and traditional framework.
The Charaka and Sushruta compilations describe oiling, rubbing, and pressing within a therapeutic system, while their dating spans centuries. Abhyanga also continues as a living Ayurvedic practice; that cultural continuity is important history, not by itself clinical evidence.
Contemporary spa adaptations may share a name, oil, or broad sequence with traditional practice without representing the same training or cultural context.