Another in the small bundle of incenses I bought from Pilgrims Fair Trade, which have been made by someone in the north west India temple town of Pushkar. Pilgrims Fair Trade describe them as "Temple Incense", and so "Pushkar Temple" has become a common way to describe them on Western incense blogs and forums. Pilgrims Fair Trade appear to have sourced them from the Pushkar shop, Om Pushkar Natural Incens, though it's not clear if OM is the maker, given that a number of Indian fragrance shops, such as Ramakrishna's, sell white label incense under their own shop's brand. There are two other outlets in Pushkar: Nityam and Shiva, who may be selling their own incense, or the same incense known as "Pushkar Temple".
A number of the Pushkar incenses could be said to match the low cost, cheaply made "Flora" incenses which use a lot of fragrance oils and agarbatti oils to give a big hit of aroma without much thought to aesthetics. The best of them are quite heady and pungent with a crude backstreet charisma. This one has the "Flora" name, and also has the crude zest of a cheap "Flora" type incense, based on Sri Sai Flora Fluxo. The scent on the stick is unclear. Powerful, but unclear. It is quite menthol cool, and earthy, with notes of raw meat, hot sand, caramel, milky instant hot chocolate, and faint, old dog poo. There's also a cascade of floral notes. It's a mess. And not a glorious one. But it is interesting, and holds, for me, some appeal. The impression I am coming away with is of damp, slightly old flower petals and cheap instant hot chocolate.
The scent on the burn is less messy - it holds together reasonably well, but is still quite an assault of damp florals. There is much about this which reminds me of Phool incense, which I (and others) have struggled with because of the damp flower aroma common to all the Phool scents. To be fair, I think this Krishna Flora is slightly better than Phool, though hasn't the buzz of recycling temple flowers, nor the awesome packaging. All this pack has is a rather crude opaque tissue paper wrapped around the sticks, and an oil stained slip of colourful paper with the name of the incense (but no indication of who makes the incense). There is some simple charm in the homeliness of it. This is clearly far from the professionalism of Phool, and there is always some appeal in the immediacy and authenticity of simple and basic products made in backstreet or rural workshops. But such simple charm can carry only so far, and in the end this incense has to convince with the fragrance on the burn. Well, this is the Pushkar incense that I have found the most appealing so far. It's a shame it's a fairly simple floral without any woods or musks to ground it or give it balance or interest, as I like rounded, complex, or interesting fragrances more than one dimensional, and floral aromas are not among my favourites. So, despite this being a cleaner, stronger fragrance than the other Pushkars I've burned (fewer off notes, decent strength), it's not really a fragrance that delights me.
A number of the Pushkar incenses could be said to match the low cost, cheaply made "Flora" incenses which use a lot of fragrance oils and agarbatti oils to give a big hit of aroma without much thought to aesthetics. The best of them are quite heady and pungent with a crude backstreet charisma. This one has the "Flora" name, and also has the crude zest of a cheap "Flora" type incense, based on Sri Sai Flora Fluxo. The scent on the stick is unclear. Powerful, but unclear. It is quite menthol cool, and earthy, with notes of raw meat, hot sand, caramel, milky instant hot chocolate, and faint, old dog poo. There's also a cascade of floral notes. It's a mess. And not a glorious one. But it is interesting, and holds, for me, some appeal. The impression I am coming away with is of damp, slightly old flower petals and cheap instant hot chocolate.
The scent on the burn is less messy - it holds together reasonably well, but is still quite an assault of damp florals. There is much about this which reminds me of Phool incense, which I (and others) have struggled with because of the damp flower aroma common to all the Phool scents. To be fair, I think this Krishna Flora is slightly better than Phool, though hasn't the buzz of recycling temple flowers, nor the awesome packaging. All this pack has is a rather crude opaque tissue paper wrapped around the sticks, and an oil stained slip of colourful paper with the name of the incense (but no indication of who makes the incense). There is some simple charm in the homeliness of it. This is clearly far from the professionalism of Phool, and there is always some appeal in the immediacy and authenticity of simple and basic products made in backstreet or rural workshops. But such simple charm can carry only so far, and in the end this incense has to convince with the fragrance on the burn. Well, this is the Pushkar incense that I have found the most appealing so far. It's a shame it's a fairly simple floral without any woods or musks to ground it or give it balance or interest, as I like rounded, complex, or interesting fragrances more than one dimensional, and floral aromas are not among my favourites. So, despite this being a cleaner, stronger fragrance than the other Pushkars I've burned (fewer off notes, decent strength), it's not really a fragrance that delights me.
Date: Jan 2025 Score: 29
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