Hari Darshan Om Flora

 

Hari Darshan of Delhi are a well established Indian incense house who, for most of their history, have mainly sold domestically; however, they have been exporting to the West for a few years now - either straightforward perfumed sticks and cones for everyday room freshening, or perfumed masala in attractive slide out trays imported by Green Tree, and aimed at the New Age market with some incidental use of the imagery of other cultures, particularly Native American. They produce decent, well made incense, and there are two or three of their scents I have particularly liked, but on the whole I'm not seeing them as an incense house I wish to explore further once I have finished with the packs I have yet to review.  

This pack, though, looks a little more interesting than the Native American stuff  which Green Tree have been distributing. It looks more traditional, and stands on Indian culture, so feels more authentic. Though marked for export, it has the feel of a product aimed at the domestic market. The name subtly points to Sai Flora - a respected brand in India; the flat, wide box size and shape is often used for masala incense in India (the Satya shaped box is more often used for Western exports); and it is described as "Natural" rather than "Masala" - and I have noted that "Natural" is used more for domestic sales, while Masala is used more for Western. So the small indicators point to this being aimed more at the home market than a Western one. 

The sticks are very neatly hand-rolled using a charcoal paste, and then have a very light dusting of pale coloured melnoorva/masala powder. The scent on the stick is gorgeous. It is a traditional masala incense scent - sweet, woody, floral, gently perfumed. It creates the right atmosphere. It has an immediate hit of appeal; it can be a bit cloying after a while, though, to be fair, the intention of the "cool throw" is just to create that immediate appeal - it is the burn or "hot throw" that we're after. 

The scent on the burn is more neutral than sweet, leaning toward mineral. There is a loban (or benzoin - though the terminology appears to have issues) feel about this. I tend to get a dryish, mineral scent from loban, though others tend to get sweet vanilla.  It's a sold, calming, pleasant scent that feels natural, but doesn't quite lift or excite me. It's a good incense, though doesn't have the headiness that I associate with most incense called Flora. It is relaxed, well mannered, pleasant, cleansing. I like it, but it doesn't throb my heart. 

I bought these for £2.50 from ScentedAndMore back in 2022. I note they are currently (Jan 2025) on offer at £1.00. That looks like a real bargain to me. 

Date: Jan 2025    Score: 34 

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Hari Darshan

Flora, Fluxo, and Supreme