Recycled Temple Flowers

Ankit Agrawal and Karan Rastogi  of Phool

Recycling discarded temple flowers into incense was started by Ankit Agrawal and Karan Rastogi  of Phool, and has encouraged other young start-up Indian incense companies, as well as influencing major brands such as Cycle. The typical method is that the flowers which have been left at temples are collected up rather than allow them to be dumped into rivers. They are washed to rid them of pesticides, and then sorted into colours and dried. The dried petals are crushed and mixed with charcoal or wood powder, binder such as joss powder, and fragrance oils. They are then usually sold in bright and colourful packaging.  

Reviews

Calmveda Habana Cinnamon (P)
Dec 2024 - Score: 40

Cycle Pushkarini (M)
June 2023 - Score: 39

Calmveda King Champa (P)
Dec 2024 - Score: 38

   

Calmveda Indian Sandalwood (P)
Dec 2024 - Score: 34

Kailapira Badrinath Premium Dhoopsticks (D)
July 2023 - Score: 33

Calmveda Fresh Lavender (P)

Dec 2024 - Score: 28

  

Phool Luxury Incense Cones Lavender 
April 2024 - Score: 28

Phool Luxury Incense Cones Jasmine 
Nov 2023 - Score: 26

  

Phool Luxury Incense Sticks - Tulsi (PM)
July 2024 - Score: 25 

Calmveda 1960's Patchouli (P)
Dec 2024 - Score: 25

Phool Luxury Incense Cones Tuberose 
April 2024 - Score: 24↑ 

Phool Luxury Incense Cones Nagchampa (P)
Mar 2025 - Score: 23=

Phool Luxury Incense Cones Indian Rose 
Sept 2023 - Score: 20

  

Kailapira Alaknanda Premium Dhoopsticks (D)
May 2025  -  Score: 08↓↓ (avg 17)

Phool Patchouli Luxury Incense Sticks 
Nov 2023 - Score 15

Scents reviewed: 15
Top score: 40

Bottom score: 15

Average: 28

Conclusion: This is an interesting and welcome initiative. Phool started it, and have been successful in promoting it and generating interest, so others are now following, though Phool haven't quite got the formulation right yet. The more experienced Cycle have managed  a very good formulation with Pushkarini; and the new start up Calmveda, though inconsistent, are making some excellent incenses using temple flowers. I am very interested in exploring further Calmveda incense as well as other companies using temple flowers. 
 

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