Soma (drink)
The Soma/Haoma cult originated in the Andronovo culture. It is noted that other early Indo-Europeans did not drink Soma except Indo-Iranians (cf. Norman 1990: 292f.), and therefore making it unlikely that this cult started with Proto-Indo-Europeans. Based on the flower-clusters of the Ephedra alata, Soma-drinking is especially associated with Indra and the Sanskrit name for the colour Yellow, हरि ("hari"). A similar plant-colour system exists in Turkic sarï-msak ("garlic"), a plant which is called after its yellowish-white root developed from Turkic sarï 'yellow' (Tenisev: 2001, p. 144). Buryat hara-ana and Bashkir harï-na show the closest phonetic affinity with Sanskrit. The original meaning is preserved in Chuvash šură ("white, light colored; clean, uncontaminated").