Banjara Ritual Resin On Stick Chamomile

 

Resin-on-a-stick is really taking off, especially in South America. And Indian incense houses have been supplying resin-on-a-stick type incenses for Western companies to sell - such as Soul Sticks. Well, this company, R M Enterprises of Bangalore, who sell their resin sticks under the name Banjara, have decided  to get into the act themselves. They have an export contract with  Ancient Wisdom, so Banjara sticks are appearing all over the UK for around £3 a pack of 8 from: eBay;  MysticMoon, Amazon, Shiva, etc and also in North America - SoapOpera, South America - Samana,  Australia - Herb Temple, and other countries. I am excited by this trend, though accept the limitations of the resin-on-a-stick format. Incense with liquid scents (be it "perfumed" or "masala") are more flexible, and can produce some exciting scent blends in the right hands. The downside is that, despite terms like "natural", "pure", "masala", "flora", "fluxo", etc, there is often a disassociation between the fragrance and what is genuinely pure and natural. Incense sticks are a step removed from burning true incense, such as resins. The use of oils, essential or otherwise, has created a distance from the act of burning incense, and has drawn the world of incense closer to the world of perfumery. Yes, there are pluses in that, such as in the flexibility of scent blends I've just mentioned, but there is clearly a dissonance in the world of natural incense lovers who have been clinging ever more tenuously to the notion that some of the processed incense sticks of India and Japan are still somehow natural and pure. That audience has been growing more and more uncomfortable, and has been increasingly shifting, instead, to the world of  resins. Sales of resins have increased exponentially over the past couple of decades. Resin-on-a-stick is the way forward as it has the potential to capture that growing need for genuinely pure incense, and coupling it with the significant attraction of burning with the ease and convenience of an incense stick.  All of us have grown up in a world where incense sticks are known and used. We don't need to learn how to use an incense stick. We know that all you have to do is light it, and stick it in a holder or a plant pot. But most of us are less familiar with burning resin. It is a process we have to learn, and we need to share tips and advice about charcoal disks and electric burners and temperatures in order to get the best out of our resins. Being able to burn resins with a light-it-and-forget-it method we are already familiar with, is a huge draw. 

All that said, these sticks are more in the style of resin-on-a-stick (ROAS) rather than true ROAS. They look like Californian or South American ROAS, but a whiff of the stick gives off the scent of volatile perfumes or oils rather than of resin. Powdery, sweet, resinous, somewhat floral. It's a reasonably attractive scent, but doesn't have the authenticity of a natural resin.  It smells like a stick that has been dipped in a fragrance oil. It is unclear what the paste is made of - there is charcoal powder for sure, and flecks of uncertain materials - herbs? plants? woods? resins? It crumbles softly in the hand (leaving a black charcoal stain and a soapy, herby scent). The main fragrance oil is possibly chamomile, though could also be a blend of perfumes to approximate chamomile - it's slightly fresh, minty, flowery, herby, a touch musky. It does remind me of chamomile tea, so I would accept it as a chamomile oil, supported by chamomile leaves in the paste. 

The scent on the burn follows the experience of the scent on the stick. It's reasonably fresh, uplifting, and attractive, with a focus on camomile. I'm not excited, and I'm uncomfortable with the odd blending of South American Aztec and North American Indian cultures in order to present and promote this stick made in Asia (either be neutral or exploit your own culture in order to sell a product), but I do like this. I don't think Banjara have nailed the resin-on-a-stick style, but that they are exploring it is, I feel, a positive indicator for the future.  

Date: April 2025    Score:  35 

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Banjara Incense