The essential oil of Swertia chirata Buch.-Ham. was extracted by solvent extraction (n-pentane:diethylether, 1:1) method using simultaneous distillation-extraction (SDE) apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The yield of essential oil obtained from S. chirata was 236.47 mg/kg. Seventy seven compounds of the essential oil belonging to chemical classes of acid (4), alcohol (21), aldehyde (15), ester (3), furan (3), hydrocarbon (7), ketone (17) and miscellaneous (7) were tentatively identified. The major volatile compounds ranged in content order were as follows: undecanoic acid (28.63%), 2-buten-2-one (20.42%), camphor (18.40%), 2-heptadecanone (14.72%), and cedrol (13.07%).