Incense in India

[7] An older term "Dhūpavarti" is more commonly used in ancient and medieval texts which encompasses various types of stick incense recipes.

Dhūpa (incense) and gandhā (perfumes) are two of five accessories of religious worship in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism; others being puṣpa (flowers), dīpa (lamp) and nivedya (food).

Worshipping deities with these five accessories is generally considered as a way for achieving the four ends of human life; dharma, artha, kama and moksha.

[12] Mahabharata classifies incense dhupa into three types known as niryasa; resins from Commiphora wightii, Shorea robusta, Boswellia serrata, second is sarin; heartwoods from aloeswood, sandalwood, roots, flowers and herbs, and third is kritrima; artificially produced or manufactured like jaggery or molasses from sugarcane for example.

Dharmaśāstra describes incense ingredients as sandalwood, aloeswood, camphor, musk, saffron, piper cubeba, resins, jaggery, ghee, honey, fragrant flowers, among others.

[12][15] In Arthashastra, a text on treatise of statecraft and political science, agarwood, sandalwood and other aromatics were subject to a state tax at one-tenth or one-fifteenth of the sale price of the products.

According to James Mchugh from "approximately the late centuries of the first millennium CE onwards do we see significant materials on perfumery incorporated into texts on erotics and courtly life.

"[17] These texts are not just limited to incense making, but the topic of "Gandhayukti" covers diverse products related to perfumery and cosmetics of various kinds; Curna (perfume powders), Vilepana and Anulepana (fragrant sandal unguent, applied to the body and left on to render its fragrance), Udvartana and Sananiya (fragrant bathing exfoliants), Dhupavarti (incense sticks, early form which lacks bamboo-core), Dipavarti (perfumed powder rolled inside cotton lamp-wicks), Vasana (perfumed oils), among others.

The substances are Uŝira, Aguru, Vālaka, Madanfal, Karpûra, Dhānya, Nāgapuşpa, Tagara, Saibya, Spŗkkā, Ghana, Karcûra, Vyāghranakha, Nakha, Coraka, Chandana.

The total number of perfumes resulting from the sixteen ingredients being mixed in all possible combinations is 43,680.The Lokopakara ("for the benefit of the people") text has a chapter dedicated to incense recipes for various needs, below are few examples;[20] Divine perfume; Prepare a mixture of the powders of sandalwood, bharudi leaves, male flowers of screw-pine, unrefined sugar, agar, and costus roots taken in equal proportion.

This is called 'divine incense' and is amiable to all gods.Incense for dissipation of bugs and other insects; the mixture of the powders of sandalwood, vidanga seeds, flowers of arjun trees, along with jaggery...and honey dissipates flies, gnats and bugs from the house when fumigated with it.In the text Sharngadhara-paddhati ("Sharngadhara's Guidebook"),[21] a chapter is dedicated to Jalavasa (perfumed waters), Mukhavasa (mouth freshener), Angavasa (cloth perfume) and Dhupa (incense), below are some examples; A person should fumigate both clothes & home with the incense of Camphor, Nakha, Giri, Kasturi, Jatamasami, Jatu in equal quantity with sandalwood & aloewood in two units mixed with molassesAn incense stick which is suitable for kings can be prepared from the mixture of Nakha, Aguru, Sihlaka, Valaka, Kunduru, Saileya, Candana, Syama by taking each in progressive proportionAn incense stick made from the compound of Marjari, Himavaluka, Pisunaka, Gorocana, Sihlaka, Karpura, pounded in water, in progressive proportion, mixed with ghee and sugar, this is known as ManmathavartiThe Haramekhala ("the Girdle of Hara") text describes preparations of the following aromatics for dinacharya ("daily-routine"), the fifth chapter is summarized by the author of the text in the following passage:[7] This collection of the applications of the fifth [chapter] is composed.

The artificial manufacture of musk and the method of the extraction of various perfumes.The chapter on perfumery in the text Nagarasarvasva ("the Complete Man-About-Town") by Padmasri has some similarities to the Haramekhala in how it is organized, consisting of a number of aromatic formulae respectively for hair (kesapatavasa), dwelling (grhavasa), mouth (mukhavasa), water (jalavasa), betel-nut (pugaphalam), bathing powder (snaniya).

Chapter titled "Nagarakavrtti" (‘The Avocation of the Nagaraka’) also describes dinacharya ("daily-routine") of bathing, cosmetics and use of perfumery and incense for various needs.

Perfumes were seen as indispensable to the goal of pleasure (kama), and the informated consumption of them was a vital part of what it meant to be a cultivated person.

Surviving perfumery texts additionally contained sophisticated verbal puzzles that seem designed to entertain and impress the cultivated makers and users of perfumes.

[19] Those who were well versed in the sixty-four or seventy-two arts and techniques (kala) that defined their education and in addition to this erotic context, it would seem riddles were associated with the literary gathering called the "goṣṭhi".

[26] McHugh notes that "the audience was expected to engage in a bewildering, yet pleasurable, contest of intellectual, olfactory, erotic riddles.

Mchung notes that the earliest layer of "Gandhasara, the Essence of Perfume, dating most likely from the early- to mid-second millenium CE" with later additions by several authors up to 13th century.

[35] After the base paste has been applied to the bamboo stick it is, while still moist, immediately rolled into a fine wood powder, and then left for several days to dry; it may also be dipped into a scented solvent.

[2] It was the largest exporter of incense until 2015, after several years of reduced import tariffs as a result of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement.

[59] Under the aegis of the "Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan", the government of India approved an incense production and employment program on August 2, 2020.

Under this scheme, the incense artisans will be provided automatic agarbatti and powder-mixing machines through private business partners.