Happy Hari / Hari Krishna Incense / Cultures of Eden Vrindavan Flowers

I can't recall where I got this incense from - whether it's one that Paul sent me to review, or one that I tracked down from the dwindling stocks of Paul Eagle's imports that are scattered around shops in the UK. I came late to Paul's incense. He sent me some to review just as I became distracted by other projects, and it wasn't until after he died that I discovered (too late) just what a wonderful bunch of proper job masala incense he had got his hands on. I know that at least one of his sources has been tracked down, and his Nag Champa Gold has been revived, and is on sale in the UK from the  distributor The Indian Connection, but to traders only.  I have also been contacted by a dealer in America who says he got the contact details of Paul's sources direct from him just before he killed himself on Christmas Day 2016.  I have yet to sample those.

Anyway, this is a very pleasant proper job masala, but it's a little vague. The name is Vrindavan Flowers, which is also the name of an incense by Gauranga (available from krishnastore.co.uk), which is supposedly produced from the fragrant flowers that were common in Vrindavan when Krishna was present on the planet 5000 years ago.  I don't know if the incense is made by the same source, as Gauranga is a Hare Krishna term which is also used by Gokula-incense for some of their incenses. It appears to have been imported by Paul for the EdenicStates website, which appears to no longer exist, but the related  FoodForConsciousness site is still open, and has a dwindling range of Happy Hari incenses at cheap prices.

Anyway, we didn't get much in the way of floral - perhaps a little bit of pansy. But we did get a mild woody scent. Nothing in particular to pin down, but certainly pleasant. A gentle, softly sensual and relaxing scent. It's very pleasing and subtly compelling.  We like it.


Date: Jan 2018   Score: 33

The Cultures of Eden Vrindavan Flowers is exactly the same as Gokula Vrindavan Flower  available from gokula-incense.co.uk for £1.95 for 20 gms, which I have reviewed here. In the picture above I have laid out the two sticks side by side, and there is no difference. The sticks are crudely made, with the thin paste crumbling off in places. The stick has a paste hand rolled onto it, and then rolled into a fine masala powder of fragrant ingredients, and it appears to have then been dipped in an essential oil, as there is a mild alcohol volatility about the scent. The scent is mild, subtle, of summery flowers. As they are different batches, there is a greater weight of essential oil on the Cultures of Eden sticks. On burning there is some awareness of vanilla and very mild summery floral notes, gently underpinned by a soft woody pale sandalwood. The whole is subtle, mild, gentle and quite pleasant.


Date: June 2018   Score: 30

See also:  Gokula Vrindavan Flower

Happy Hari Incense