B.G Pooja Store Natural Bathi

 

One of our readers, Eugene Andrushchenko (a Ukrainian forced out of his country by the Russian invasion, but hoping to go back one day and re-establish his incense business), has recently come back from an incense gathering trip to India, during which, while they were in Tiruvannamalai, they picked up three packets of masala incense from a pooja store near the impressive Raja Gopuram (gateway entrance) of Arunachalesvara Temple. The store, B.G, was opened in 2004, and sells its own B.G branded incense along with other common brands, such as Satya, Hari Om, and Vijayshree. Eugene sent us some generous samples of the three B.G scents he had picked up. 

We're taking a look at the Natural Bathi, which reminds me of incense from The Mother's, and other incense producers in and around  Pondicherry and Auroville, around 2 hours drive away, such as Cottage Industries, One Aromatics, etc. 
 

Packet of Natural Bathi in the
B.G store in Tiruvannamalai

The sticks are made from a modest amount of a charcoal (possibly coconut charcoal) paste-mix neatly hand rolled around a plain bamboo splint. A pink coloured and fragrant noorva powder covers the charcoal paste. There is a fresh scent on the stick, a little sharp, indicating a fragrance oil of some sort. It's floral with wood notes. Roses. Pine. Some shoe polish.

I was curious about the shoe polish, as I've had that smell before. It appears that shoe polish may contain turps and/or naptha (the liquid form of napthalene - which is used for mothballs, and may give you a headache if you smell it too much). Naptha is an aromatic compound. And turps (which comes from wood) contains terpenes, which are also aromatic compounds. Aromatic compounds can be intoxicating and addictive. Tree resins, such as frankincense, myrrh, and halmaddi, contain terpenes.  So, aromatic compounds can be therapeutic, medicinal, and attractive, as well as intoxicating, addictive, and harmful. Such is the complex and sometimes contradictory nature of incense. And some of this information may help explain why I sometimes get huge pleasure from burning some incense, yet irritation and headaches from burning others.  

On the burn I find the incense a little serious, and a little harsh. Something I generally find with incenses from Pondicherry and Auroville. I don't react well to incense from this area - my eyes sting, I get a headache, and I can feel the incense in my mouth and lungs like an alien agent. Is there a local ingredient common to these producers, which is causing this reaction? My assumption has been that it is a reaction to halmaddi - though I've had other incenses with halmaddi which do not cause this reaction.  

Anyway. I have returned to these sticks several times. I find they are more attractive, less sharp and volatile, when they have been out of the packet for a while and allowed to settle (or to let the volatile fumes evaporate). At that point there is a fruit quality on the stick, rather like cherries, along with some vanilla. There is still the roses, though now it has a distinct and pleasant sweetness, with an attractive, inviting, almost natural sweet floral fragrance. When fresh out of the packet it is sharp, chemical, and artificial, after resting, it is gentle, sweet, inviting, and natural. 

On the burn, after resting, I still find it a little serious, and, though it is a tad less harsh than when straight of of the packet, it is a little more smoky, with more evidence of the core materials rather than the fragrant ingredients. There is a mineral coolness in the middle, which is pleasant, and some woody musk underneath which gives it some weight. 

Overall it's an OK incense, and while I may find it too harsh and serious, others may like that cool austerity. There remains in the room an attractive musky sweetness underpinning a sort of Love Hearts sweetness with touches of rose. But it is faint, and it doesn't linger - what tends to linger is burnt wood and ash. My feeling is that the formulation has diluted fragrant oil with a little too much DEP or agarbatti oil.  I'm classing this as a perfumed masala. 

Date: Jan 2023    Score: 27

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