Cottage Industries Call of Krishna

 

A perfumed-masala/charcoal joss stick, the third in the set of three scents celebrating the Hindu gods Krishna and Shiva, by Cottage Industries based in the ashram in Pondicherry. This one is "Formula 20 Sweet Bouquet".  The sticks appear to be made from a charcoal-based paste hand-rolled around a hand-cut bamboo splint, and dried. A fragrant oil or perfume is doing the bulk of the work. Cottage Industries state that the sticks are "handmade in a traditional way from the extracts of fragrant herbs, plant roots, aromatic barks and flower petals". The use of  "fragrant herbs, plant roots, aromatic barks and flower petals" in the description puts one in mind of traditional masala incense rather than perfumed, though  the term "extract" is generally applied to the fragrant ingredient in an essential oil or perfume.  This presents and behaves more like a perfumed-charcoal incense than a masala incense, though it is difficult to know for sure.

Special Box

There is a faint scent on the stick - slightly floral with tiny touches of spice. The overall impression is mainly neutral, hovering between mild savoury notes and mild sweet notes. The incense comes more to life on the burn, with a pleasant woody warmth  - I am getting wood and spice rather than the "Sweet Bouquet" promised by the sub-title on the flat-pack. 

  

The economy flat pack

There is a prickly spice  and overall dryness to this which is not to my taste; and that is something I often find with incenses from Pondicherry/Auroville. There is an approach to incense making by the folks associated with the ashram that results in a dry, sombre, spicy scent balance that is perfectly acceptable, and a number of people like it, but it is not the sort of scent balance that gives me the most pleasure. I like my incense to be sweeter, or more playful, or more fun, or more delightful, or more balanced, or more complex, or more sensual, or more heavenly, or to take me on a more interesting journey.  I want more than just the scent of fairly ordinary wood burning, albeit with a bit of spice. 

Having said all that, I don't actively dislike this incense - it's just that it doesn't do much for me. I also note, as this is burning, that despite my assertions that this is a perfumed incense, it is now presenting almost as a masala, or at least like a thin Tibetan incense.  And as I write that I wonder, really, what is the point in classifying incense as as either masala or perfumed, especially as sometimes makers use both approaches in the same stick. I think it's something worth noting as part of the general description of an incense, such as length and thickness of the stick, but what really matters is how the incense smells, and the impression it leaves on your senses and on the house.  

I find this to be a modest and mild incense with a general aroma akin to that of burning dried petals and barks and spice. It is fairly neutral, and has little impact on my senses or emotions. But it is mildly pleasant.

Date: March 2023    Score: 22 

Cottage Industries