These are masala sticks* [Note, I assumed these were masala when first reviewing, but now I have my doubts, and will revisit the sticks. Actually, when I first reviewed one of these "dry" Shroffs, I thought they were perfumed, and I have returned to that thought with my latest review.] - a charcoal based paste has been hand-rolled onto hand-cut bamboo splits, and then coated in a woody melnoorva powder to stop the sticks gluing together as the paste dries. The melnoorva has a green tinge which makes the stick look a little like the patina on a copper garden statue. The aroma on the stick is pleasant, soft, slightly floral, soapy, rose petals, musky - the closest approximation would be a bar of Camay soap. It's clean and pleasant, though nothing to get me excited.
This stick is called Durbar - a name I have occasionally seen applied to incense, though I have had few of them myself. A glance around the internet, and nobody seems to know exactly what a Durbar incense is, though there are comments that it is an indication of a floral incense like a champa would indicate frangipani and nag champa would indicate magnolia. The term Durbar in India means a royal court, and given that this has a scent which includes rose, which in India is associated with gods, higher spirituality, supreme beings, and royalty, it would seem to me to be likely that a durbar could be a name given to refined floral, rose based incense. It is sometimes associated with floras and fluxos, which tend to be rich, heady incenses, often using fragrant oils, though this incense is quite dry, with the scent coming from dried ingredients. It burns reasonably slowly, and gives out a soft, pleasant perfume similar to the scent on the stick; though a little less soapy and floral, and a little more woody, and a little more "green", in the sense of burning green plant-life. It's a little more earthy on the burn than on the stick.
Shroff Incense |
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