{"id":98776,"date":"2026-10-17T19:29:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aladdin.si\/himalajska-solna-lampa-koristi-izvor-soli\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T18:18:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T16:18:31","slug":"himalayan-salt-lamp-benefits-salt-origin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aladdin.si\/en\/himalayan-salt-lamp-benefits-salt-origin\/","title":{"rendered":"Himalayan salt lamp: what it really brings to your home and where the salt comes from"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you switch off the ceiling light in the evening and turn on a salt lamp, the room changes in an instant. The light becomes soft and amber, the stone glows from within, and the eyes and mind settle. It is no wonder that Himalayan salt lamps have become a fixture in living rooms, bedrooms and on desks all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also come with a lot of promises \u2013 from purifying the air to better sleep and “neutralising radiation”. In this article we tell you honestly what a salt lamp really brings to your home and what is just a nice story. We show you where the salt actually comes from, why one lamp is white and another deep red, and how to choose a lamp that will glow for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a Himalayan salt lamp<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A salt lamp is a piece of natural rock salt that is shaped by hand and hollowed out inside to hold a bulb. When the bulb is switched on, the light travels through the crystal and is scattered within it. This creates the characteristic warm glow that no lampshade can imitate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lamps come in two forms. Natural lamps<\/strong> keep the shape the stone had when it was mined, while shaped lamps<\/strong> are carved into spheres, pyramids or bowls. No two natural pieces are alike \u2013 every lamp is unique, with its own veins, layers and shades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where Himalayan salt comes from<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The name is somewhat misleading. Himalayan salt is not mined in the Himalayas but in the Salt Range<\/strong> (in Urdu Koh-e-Namak<\/em>), a low mountain belt in the Punjab province of Pakistan, south of the Himalayas, between the Indus and Jhelum rivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The salt layers formed roughly 600 to 540 million years ago<\/strong>, in the Ediacaran and early Cambrian, when a shallow primeval sea evaporated here. Later, movements of the Earth\u2019s crust on the southern edge of the Himalayas pushed them closer to the surface. The salt was sealed under layers of rock for millions of years, which is why it is so pure today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Infographic:
Schematic map of the Salt Range and its main salt mines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Khewra \u2013 a mine with a history of more than two thousand years<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The most famous is the Khewra<\/strong> mine in the Jhelum district, about 160 kilometres from Islamabad and Lahore. It is considered the second largest salt mine in the world. Legend has it that the salt was discovered in 326 BC by the horses of Alexander the Great\u2019s army, which licked the stones. The first records of mining date back to the 13th century, and in the Mughal era salt from Khewra was traded as far as Central Asia. The main tunnel, still in use today, was laid out in 1872 by the British mining engineer H. Warth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the mine has around 40 kilometres of tunnels on several levels, and more than 300,000 tonnes of salt are extracted from it every year. It is also a popular tourist attraction, visited by up to 250,000 people a year, partly because of a small mosque built from bricks of pink salt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Entrance
Entrance to the Khewra mine, Pakistan. Photo: Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other mines of the Salt Range<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Khewra is not the only source. The Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC), a state-owned company, operates several salt mines, each with its own character:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mine<\/th>District<\/th>Predominant colours<\/th>Average purity<\/th>Special feature<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Khewra<\/strong><\/td>Jhelum<\/td>white (translucent), pink, red<\/td>about 98%<\/td>the best known and oldest, also a tourist mine<\/td><\/tr>
Warcha<\/strong><\/td>Mianwali<\/td>mostly white and pink<\/td>about 98%<\/td>today the largest state-owned mine by quantity of salt extracted<\/td><\/tr>
Kalabagh<\/strong><\/td>Mianwali<\/td>white and pink<\/td>about 96%<\/td>on the Indus River, as many as 13 different salt layers<\/td><\/tr>
Jatta \/ Bahadur Khel<\/strong><\/td>Karak<\/td>white, light and dark grey<\/td>about 98%<\/td>grey salt, less typical for classic pink lamps<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Source: Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC), data for 2022\/23.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On lamps, the origin is usually stated simply as Pakistan or Khewra. What matters most to you is that the salt really comes from the Salt Range \u2013 whatever is mined there is genuine Himalayan salt, regardless of which mine it comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about other rock salts?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rock salt is not only Pakistani. In Europe there are famous historic salt mines in Poland and Austria, and in the Iranian province of Semnan the rare Persian blue salt<\/strong> is extracted. Its blue tint is not a dye \u2013 it is attributed to the mineral sylvite (potassium chloride) in rare veins. These salts are of interest mainly in cooking and as collector\u2019s pieces. For lamps, however, salt from Pakistan is used most often, because there it is extracted in large, compact blocks with warm shades that let the light through beautifully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why salt is pink, red or white<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Himalayan salt is 96 to 99 per cent sodium chloride<\/strong> \u2013 the same compound you have in your salt shaker. The rest consists of traces of other minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and sulphur, each at less than one per cent. The colour comes mainly from iron oxides<\/strong>: the more of them there are in the crystal, the warmer and darker the shade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Infographic:
What determines the colour of Himalayan salt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the same mine you can therefore find every shade, from almost translucent white to deep red, because the composition changes from layer to layer. Colour is not a measure of quality but of taste:<\/p>\n\n\n\n