I bought a combo deal of Vakratund dhoop from the Indian website Aavyaa last year - they are no longer sold on Aavyaa, but can be bought in India from United Fragrances, the company who own the Vakratund brand, but they don't export. It is not clear who makes the Vakratund dhoops - if they are made in house, outsourced, or bought off the shelf and rebadged. But they are delightful. Huge scents - rich, fresh, and enchanting. Very Indian. If you like heady Indian incense, you'll like these. I do. The names of each of the dhoops are each linked to an Indian religion. Neminath is a figure in Jainism - apparently one of the oldest religions still practiced today (after Hinduism and Judaism).
The scent on the stick is heady, intense, fruity, sweet, floral, volatile with an icy touch, quite compelling. It is joyful, playful, uplifting, young, fresh, breezy. It's like a mango sorbet.
The dhoops are easy to light - the dhoops are made from wood powder soaked in oils rather than charcoal; they catch alight easy, and flame up quickly, producing some black smoke. I prefer charcoal to wood as it is healthier, cleaner, better for the environment, and burns without odour, so allowing the fragrance oils to be heard. But this dhoop is well done - it's a little smoky, but the wood powder doesn't intrude. Well, to be fair, it doesn't get much chance from the amount of fragrance oil that the powder has been mixed with! Various odd products may go into a dhoop to help it burn, to bind the ingredients, to hold and amplify the scent - ingredients such as cow dung, ghee, and rubber processing oil. It is possible one or more of those products is in this dhoop, but if so, there are no negative impacts on the fragrance. This is a pleasant, light, uplifting floral, fruity scent. It's in the style of a flora - lots of scent, a melange of different, though related scents, like blending together several floral fragrance oils. It works. For me it's perhaps a little too much focused on the floral fruits, and there's little to balance it in the way of heavy woods or musks. But for when I want something bright, jolly, and uplifting to penetrate deep into the house and linger, this is the sort of incense I'll be reaching for.
The scent on the stick is heady, intense, fruity, sweet, floral, volatile with an icy touch, quite compelling. It is joyful, playful, uplifting, young, fresh, breezy. It's like a mango sorbet.
The dhoops are easy to light - the dhoops are made from wood powder soaked in oils rather than charcoal; they catch alight easy, and flame up quickly, producing some black smoke. I prefer charcoal to wood as it is healthier, cleaner, better for the environment, and burns without odour, so allowing the fragrance oils to be heard. But this dhoop is well done - it's a little smoky, but the wood powder doesn't intrude. Well, to be fair, it doesn't get much chance from the amount of fragrance oil that the powder has been mixed with! Various odd products may go into a dhoop to help it burn, to bind the ingredients, to hold and amplify the scent - ingredients such as cow dung, ghee, and rubber processing oil. It is possible one or more of those products is in this dhoop, but if so, there are no negative impacts on the fragrance. This is a pleasant, light, uplifting floral, fruity scent. It's in the style of a flora - lots of scent, a melange of different, though related scents, like blending together several floral fragrance oils. It works. For me it's perhaps a little too much focused on the floral fruits, and there's little to balance it in the way of heavy woods or musks. But for when I want something bright, jolly, and uplifting to penetrate deep into the house and linger, this is the sort of incense I'll be reaching for.
Date: Dec 2025 Score: 37
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