Pondicherry and Auroville incense - "dry brown dusty twigs"

 

The history of the Pondicherry and Auroville cottage industries incense is that in 1949 Mirra Alfassa, The Mother, started making incense for the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India. The aim was for this to be a modest low cost product for their own use. Surplus was sold to visitors, and by 1973 was being exported. It is sold under the Cottage Industries brand name, though originally and for a while it was under the name of the ashram, Sri Aurobindo, and had a shop in Pondicherry. However, when it became a charity, it was not allowed to get directly involved in a commercial enterprise, so set up a separate trust, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Central Sales Organisation, to deal with incense and other sales through their online shop: Sacso-online.com. 

Auroville is an experimental township near Pondicherry that was set up by Alfassa in 1968. When I first read about Auroville I was delighted, but the more I learn about it, the less I like it. I am uncomfortable that it is mostly Westerners who live there, organising or running small business, such as incense making, while it is the local Indians who do the work. While putting this page together I came upon this report by the BBC: Local concerns over Indian utopia, which appears to confirm my concerns: "there are at least 120 commercial enterprises operating here, making incense, clothes, silk paintings and so on. Under the rules, they can keep two-thirds of the profits and pay no tax. The locals think it is not fair. They are the ones who work full-time, and often for less than the Aurovillians get in maintenance grants. 'I feel like a slave,' one of them told me. 'Of course they do provide us with jobs,' he said, 'but it's very difficult for us local Tamils to become members.'  'It's like being back in the days of the British Raj', said another."

In addition to the original Cottage Industries, there are several organisations selling incense made by the Pondicherry/Auroville cottage industries. These organisations tend to sell the incense to Western visitors and online to Westerners. There is a remarkable similarity between the incenses made by the different organisations. The incenses tend to be pure and simple, without frills. They also tend to be dry and sombre, and sometimes a little harsh and peppery.  In the Tamil Nadu region where Pondicherry and Auroville are based, the incense makers sometimes use the residue left over from distilling resins and spices as this is a cheap source of fragrance. Though when mixed with wood powder it can smell dry, harsh, and peppery. The locals are accustomed to it, and like it. I don't like it - I find it resembles dry brown dusty twigs. Each to their own. 

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The Mothers

Incense reviewed: 4
Highest score: 39
Lowest score: 32
Average: 33

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Naturveda

Reviews: 11
Top score: 30

Bottom score: 21
Average:  26

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One Aromatics

Reviews: 7
Highest: 33
Lowest: 10
Average: 24

***

Meadows

Scents: 8

Top score: 27
Bottom score: 22
Average: 24

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Cottage Industries

Scents tried: 14
Highest: 28
Lowest: 17
Average: 23  

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Auroshikha Incense

Reviews: 4
Highest score: 26
Lowest score: 18
Average: 21

***

Best Scents

Auromere Imports, USA

 

Auromere are an American non-profit organisation who follow the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, the spiritual leader who, with Mirra Alfassa (The Mother) founded the  Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. They have created an ashram in California, and since 1979 import into America various Ayurvedic goods, including incense made in Pondicherry.  Other companies who sell incense made in Pondicherry or the Auroville community nearby include Auroshika, One Aromatics, Meadows,  Cottage, and The Mother's. I believe that the Australian HealingForHarmony also source their incense from the same area.

I am interested in the Auroville community and the Pondicherry ashram and their aspirations, and curious about the incense made by them which is sold around the world under various names and iterations. I tend to find the incense a little dry and severe for my taste, and - as yet, while finding it mostly of acceptable to decent quality, have not found one that I would regard as heavenly.  

 

We have received a couple of Auromere samplers and two full size packs.  Auromere incense is sold in USA, though can be bought in the UK from various sources, such as Amazon, and VitaminGrocer; and in Australia from Babyanything. I'm not seeing other outlets, though Amazon and eBay tend to be useful places to search. 

Reviews

 

Sandalwood Purity
Score: 37

 

Kasturi Aspiration (M)
Sept 2023 - Score: 31

Flowers & Spice incense Sampler

Score: TBA

 

Aromatherapy Incense Sampler
Score: TBA

 

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Own brand distributors

The Best Incense Makers

Pondicherry dry brown twigs

(Auroville) Meadows Natural Incense Mini Fan Pack

 

Sampler pack of  "natural" incense made in Auroville for Meadows, a UK based company. These are charcoal mini sticks,  dipped in fragrances, so not what are normally understood as natural, which in India usually mean a masala incense. I assume the company call these natural, partly for the marketing value (perfume-dipped charcoal incense has an unfortunately low reputation), and partly - perhaps - to differentiate the Auroville incenses which use natural or essential oils from the incenses which use perfumes made in a lab.  These sampler packs can be bought for around £4 from Meadows own website, or other websites such as BuyWholeFoods. 

I got my pack last year, and it appears that some of the oils have leaked out, as the packs were awkward to remove from the packaging.  As some of the fragrant oils may be missing from the sticks themselves that will possibly reflect in the score (could be higher or lower). It a common occurrence with perfumed incense that the scents reduce over time. Masala and other incenses which are based on solid ingredients tend not to have the fragrances evaporate over time. 

Lavender

I started with the lavender, and because of my concern that some of the oils might have evaporated, I burned two sticks together. The scent was certainly strong enough, and I'll be quite happy to burn just one at a time for the rest. Though this is a lavender fragranced incense, the predominant aroma is quite woody like cedar, with some touches of cinnamon. As the sticks are quite small and thin, they burned quickly, so it was difficult to pin down anything more sophisticated than that. The scent is quite pleasant, but nothing special. I'd be quite happy to burn these when I want a woody, sombre fragrance, but, to be fair, for that I would turn to something like Sifcon's excellent value Cinnamon Cedarwood. 

Score:  26

Patchouli

I like patchouli, but this one also smells of cedarwood. I checked the pack, and there is a little booklet (folded piece of paper) which gives a description of each of the scents, and both this and the Lavender, have also got cedarwood in the mix. This Patchouli also has vetiver, which is a fragrant grass related to lemongrass. There is something a bit lemony about this, and it's not quite as full on cedarwood as the Lavender, but there's not much in the way of patchouli (for me). It's possible that the more subtle scents have evaporated, leaving only the deeper, more woody scents. Though the pack was seal wrapped, some of the oil has possibly soaked into the paper and cardboard packaging. Anyway, a modestly pleasant scent which I like just a tad more than the Lavender. 

Score: 27 

Relax

Woody and herbal. Softest one so far, Relax is reasonably pleasant. My quibble is that it is perhaps too soft, and doesn't make itself felt. And that the scent is just a little too similar to the others in the Meadows range. It's all starting to be a little samey. This is the weakest so far. it's almost not here. 

Score: 24 

Sage-clearing

As with the others there is a woody, spicy quality here which I associate with cedarwood, though there is no mention of cedarwood in the notes, which instead refer to sage, artemisia, pine, and frankincense. There is a herbal sage quality, though a light faint. It's OK, but rather mild, and quickly gone. 

Score: 25 

Sensual

"Top notes of heady Ylang Ylang oil, middle notes of Orange progressing through to a base of earthy Veltiver and sweet Benzoin." Hmm, sounds good - I wish I was experiencing that incense, instead I have this fairly mild spicy wood smelling charcoal incense which is so small it hardly makes any presence at all, let alone develop those intriguing fragrances. OK, I have worked at it a bit, wafting the scent under my nose, and I could be convinced there is some orange and some parma violets in there. It is promising. But it's not a wow by any means. 

Score: 26 

Revitalise 

As with the Sensual, there are claims what for sounds like a wonderful fragrance combination: "top notes of Lime, May Chang, Orange, Lemongrass, mid-transitional notes of Coriander and Geranium leading to a base of lemon-scented Eucalyptus".  Well, that does sound wonderful, except that conventionally both lemon and eucalyptus are top notes rather than base notes, so I am starting to wonder what is going on here. This smells pretty much like the others  - a spicy woody scent reminiscent of cedarwood. It is possible that some cedarwood oil was spilled onto this sample packet before it was sealed, or that some cedarwood oil in one one of the fragrances was applied too heavily and has leaked out across the range. That might account for why there is a distinct cedarwood aroma in all of the sticks I have tried so far. Anyway, this is a modest spicy wood scent. OK. 

Score: 25

Spice 

Regardless of the name, or what the notes say, all these Meadows scent smell approximately the same. The scent is made by Meadows themselves in Kent, and then shipped out to Auroville in South India where the locally made charcoal blanks are dipped into the scent, packaged and sent back to Kent. Not sure why the Meadows people don't trust the Indian incense experts to make the scents in India, and so go to the additional expense and global damage of transporting their home made scent to India. A bit like sending coals to Newcastle. It would be OK, if the scents were somehow special, but these are not. I'm kinda getting pissed off now. These little bits of "natural" incense have travelled at least twice, and probably three times (collecting the ingredients which are not indigenous to Kent, but are to India) 7,000 nautical miles. Totally unnecessary - and all the bumf about "packed into boxes made from recycled card and newspaper" has to be balanced by the fact that most incense made in India from local ingredients is less damaging than these sticks. And that they use charcoal which damages the atmosphere and is a health risk, yet keep claiming they are "natural" and "authentic", is not endearing me to them. 

I reviewed this incense last year: (Auroville) Meadows Spice. It was in a pack of its own. My comment at the time was: " There is a dry spice scent inclined toward woody, possibly cedar." So, any notion that the sticks have been somehow contaminated with cedarwood oil is now dispensed. I suspect the perfume created for these sticks is not sophisticated enough to do what Meadows intend, so they all end up smelling pretty much of cedarwood. 

Score: 22

Meditate

Kind of ghostly cedarwood. I'm not impressed by these sticks. And that the perfume has been made in Kent rather than made in India is somewhat stupid. 

Score: 22

Scents: 8

Top score: 27
Bottom score: 22
Average: 24

Conclusion:  The sticks pretty much revolve around a fairly basic cedarwood scent. To be fair, the scent is not bad. But the sticks are very small, and there is little impact from the incense. Making the perfume in Kent rather than utilising the local knowledge and experience of incense makers in India is somewhat insulting and definitely unnecessarily harmful to the environment, and so to people in the future. These are not interesting incenses, are not good value for money, are not authentic, and are harmful to the environment. I'm not impressed. My suggestion is simply to avoid Meadows, and to buy authentic incense made in India. 

Date: Aug 2021  

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(Auroville) Meadows Spice

 

Meadows are a UK aromatherapy company founded 30 years ago in Kent, who commission the Indian fair trade community in Auroville to perfume dip incense sticks with natural perfumes Meadows make in the UK.  Their incense is available from their own online shop, or at other places such as Tibetan Dawn. 

This is a machine made perfume dipped (or perfumed) incense using fine charcoal. The sticks are "mini" - just under 9cm or 3 1/2 inches, and burn modestly with barely any smoke or aroma. There is a dry spice scent inclined toward woody, possibly cedar. There's a suggestion of nutmeg, and a hint of clove (though clove is not an ingredient), but very soft. Possibly a vague waft of fruit. 

It's an OK perfumed incense. It's quite modest. Quite dry. Quite soft. Gently spiced with an inclination toward wood. Fairly sombre. It didn't lift my world, but it didn't offend either. It's OK. 

Date: Dec 2020   Score: 28 

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One Aromatics (Auroville)

One Aromatics is a brand of incense sold by One Village, a UK importer and distributor of  fair trade goods made in poor or disadvantaged communities.  The company was founded in 1979. Their range of incense is made by the Auroville community in India (they offer 12 scents, each with 12 sticks, for £24 with free UK postage).  The place sounds and looks fascinating. Here's a 1971 film about it.  As an ageing hippy, it really appeals to me. I like the ideal of people of all countries living together in harmony. I love it. And I like that they are using traditional Indian skills in order to fund the community. So I want to support that. But at the same time I am a little uncertain regarding Westerners coming into India, and then utilising Indian skills and traditions to make products which they sell to the West. I suppose, I don't feel the authenticity of something like Balaji, which is a true Indian company, which makes and sells its products in India, and some gets exported. That's not to say that I think that what companies like One Aromatics, Aargee, Happy Hari, The Mothers, Fiore d’Oriente, etc, are doing is wrong, far from it - it's just that I don't feel as fulfilled dealing with these Western companies, as I do with the Indian companies because of the buffer between me and the producers. I like the direct connection I get with the Indian companies.  I like the authenticity. I like the feel of the culture. Also,  the prices of the Indian companies is usually less than that of the Western companies.

I suppose, thinking about it a bit more, what I would really prefer, is for Western companies to distribute authentic Indian incense under the original brand names of the companies, giving credit where it's due, and also bringing the cultures together, because then we have shared brands and products, rather than importing them in Western packages, under a Western brand, exclusively for Western audiences.  When I put up my reviews on my incense Facebook account, which is widely read by Indian incense manufactures and distributors, I get a greater response to reviews of recognisable Indian brands, than of  Western brands like Aargee.

Reviews

* = Review over five years old, so may not be reliable

One Aromatics Vanilla
May 2018 - Score: 35↑*

One Aromatics Ambrosia
May 2018 -  Score: 33↑*

One Aromatics Sandalwood (PM)
Aug 2025 - Score: 30=

One Aromatics Cedarwood
June 2018 -  Score: 30↑*

One Aromatics Lemongrass
June 2017 - Score: 24*

One Aromatics Spring Blossom
July 2017 - Score: 17*

One Aromatics Frankincense
Sept 2017 - Score: 10*

Reviews: 7
Highest: 33
Lowest: 10
Average: 24

Conclusion: The Auroville community is interesting, so I'd like to explore more incense from them. These One Aromatics have not impressed me, but at their best they are decent everyday scents - but they can also be a little crude and one-dimensional.

Contact details: One Aromatics      email: progress@onevillage.org     phone: +44 1608 811811

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Pondicherry dry brown twigs

Own Brand / Private Label

Maroma Incense of Auroville Frankincense

I like frankincense, so I ordered a pack of these sticks while browsing on Sound Travels for some Himalayan Rope Incense. It's £2.50 for a pack of ten perfume dipped sticks.

I became quite interested in the companies involved in the making and distribution of this incense as I opened the packet, as there is evidence of care for the environment in the packaging, and I was becoming intrigued as I surfed the net for information on Auroville and Maroma. Sadly, the incense was not living up to my expectations  - the aroma is more about the base organic material than about the frankincense - indeed, I wonder where the frankincense actually is as it is so faint and dominated so much by other aromas.  The main aromas are of  the burning of wood powder, coal dust, dried cow dung, paint, and solvent. There's a bit of heat in the aroma as well, though not enough to sting.  The packet is a plain stiff naturally made paper, yellow coloured with slightly blurry orange text with a simple flower design. The simplicity of it is quite attractive, The text is translated into five languages, so this incense goes round the world. The packet has a black print stamp at the bottom saying it is distributed in the UK by First Natural Brands, and gives a himalaya-uk web address which appears to have been taken over by a Japanese Viagra company! The Himalaya-UK company got taken over  in 2012 by  First Natural Brands, who are reviewed by Natural Products Online here.

Maroma is part of the fascinating sounding Auroville project - a town in South India intended to bring together in harmony people from all nationalities.  All Maroma incense is fair trade, and the company is run in a socially conscious way.

I love the sound of the project, and would be interested to discover more about the Maroma product line (the name comes from Mother and Aroma and back to Mother), though I am slightly put off by the aroma on this one. Chrissie just walked past and said "It smells like a church in here", which is her standard comment when I burn frankincense,  so perhaps I need to stand back from this incense a little, and allow it to do its work less directly.  Ooh, it's burning a little distance behind me now, and I am picking up little whiffs of cannabis resin. Interesting.

Date: March 2017   Score: 20


Burned some more of this today. We were sorting out some vinyl records in the front room, and casually burning incense from my already reviewed incense box. Everything was going along pleasantly until I lit up two of these. We had to stop them, and open the front door to remove the smoke. Gee, smoky, harsh, and unpleasant. Perhaps it was because I was burning two of them. Anyway - I'm moving the remainder from my everyday incense box to the toilet cleaner box in the hall. I'll see how one does at just covering up bad odours.

Date: June 2017    Score: 03

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Frankincense

 Incense Ratings - Top of the Dhoops!

Auroshikha Incense

Auroshikha was founded in 1973 in Pondicherry, India, and is a part of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. They claim to have good working practises.  As Auroshikha are part of the Pondicherry scene, and present themselves as using the "best and purest ingredients to ensure a very high quality of products that are wholly in conformity with IFRA (International Fragrance Association, Geneva, Switzerland)", they give the impression that their products are pure and natural. However, IFRA is only concerned with safety of fragrance products, not how nice they smell, and they don't issue certificates for essential oils, only fragrance oils and perfumes, natural and synthetic.  So saying you comply with IFRA is making a statement that you use synthetics. Synthetics are fine - often more aromatic and "true to nature" than pure essential oils (such is the fragility of the natural fragrance of some plants); however, a number of people who would be attracted to Auroshikha would be drawn by the belief that Auroshikha are using pure natural ingredients. 

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry

They have a wide range of incenses which sell for around a £1 for 15g. Each packet has the same basic swirling design. each fragrance noted with a different colour. The packet designs are modest, and convey a calm, serene mood.

Some of the fragrances in the range

The sticks are hand rolled with a charcoal base, and then perfume dipped - some are also rolled in a masala blend of spices.

Reviews

*= Reviews over five years old so may not be reliable

Auroshika Sandalwood (P)
April 2014 - Score: 26*

Auroshika Frankincense (M)
April 2014 - Score: 25*

Auroshikha True to Nature 
 - five scents plus one 
April 2023 - Score: 22

Auroshika Rosemary (P)
April 2014 - Score: 21*

Reviews: 4

Highest score: 26

Lowest score: 21

Average: 21

Conclusion: Because the incense is made in association with the  Sri Aurobindo Ashram, so has connections with respected incense makers  The Mother's, and Cottage Industries, and the company make claims about their purity and closeness to nature and traditional ways, I was inclined to explore the incense seriously. But my conclusions are that these True to Nature are the same as the company's Marbled incense, and that despite the use of essential oils, the scents are weak, and burn off quickly.  I have little interest in burning any more Auroshikha. 

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The Best Incense Makers

Pondicherry dry brown twigs