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Ratnagandh – A Journey into The World of Incenses

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A Journey Into The World of Incenses

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Musk/Kasturi Incense Comparison
Cycle Brand (N.Ranga Rao & Sons)Goloka Seva TrustHem CorporationMusk, कस्तूरी, المسكNikhil’s ProductsShalimar Agarbatti & Co.Tulasi & Sugandh Lok (Sarathi International Inc.)
Musk/Kasturi is a very popular fragrance, known for its pungent, animalic, warm, earthy, and slightly sweet notes. Originally, musk is obtained from the musk pod found under the skin of the abdomen of the male musk deer (Moschus). However, harvesting musk pods is expensive and unethical, as the species is protected. Alternatives such as plant-based sources, […]
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Musk/Kasturi is a very popular fragrance, known for its pungent, animalic, warm, earthy, and slightly sweet notes. Originally, musk is obtained from the musk pod found under the skin of the abdomen of the male musk deer (Moschus). However, harvesting musk pods is expensive and unethical, as the species is protected. Alternatives such as plant-based sources, such as Erythranthe moschata flowers, Jatamansi or Spikenard(Nardostachys jatamansi), as well as synthetic musk like Galaxolide,are used in perfumes and incenses. Therefore, most of the musk incenses do not smell exactly like the animal musk, but they resemble most of their notes.

Hope you all would enjoy this incense comparison!

Goloka Kasturi Chandan

This is an 8 inch machine rolled masala incense. The fragrance when not burnt is quite spicy, with jasmine, musky and dry sandalwood notes. When burnt these notes gets more pronounced, especially the dry sandalwood and spicy notes. The animalic, floral musk note gets in between these notes throughout the burn.

BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham Indian Kasturi

This is a 9 inch masala inches with its bamboo end dyed in purple color. The cold incense is very musky, sandalwood, soapy and herbal fragrance. When burnt, the initial smell is there but it has notes of vanilla and rose. There is also the animalistic, pungent note that resembles animal musk and it mixes it well with resinous and creamy undertones.

Cycle Flute Musk

This is a 9 inch machine extruded dipped incense. The fragrance when not burnt reminds me of an aftershave lotion. I would describe it as an alcoholic, clean, woody and musky fragrance. When burnt, the musk note intensifies with vanilla, while the alcoholic note just fades away.

Tulasi Premium Kasturi

This is a 9 inch handrolled masala incense. The fragrance when not burnt is very intense. It’s very musky, which is reminiscent of the animal musk, with green, sweet notes. When burnt, the musk note intensifies with sweet, rose, green and spicy note. There is also the note which is reminiscent of sandalwood. I really love this incense.

Shalimar Blue Musk

This is a 9 inch machine made perfumed masala incense. The fragrance when not burnt is soapy, musky, and floral. When burnt, these notes gets accelerated with fruity, creamy, and gardenia notes. I find this incense nice for daily use and I will repurchase it.

Gulab Singh Johrimal Musk Rose

This is a 8 inch perfumed masala incense, where the paste has beeen hand-rolled to the ends (almost) of the unevenly cut bamboo core. The fragrance is most of powdery, sweet rose, with mild muskyness and soapyness. It’s an ok incense.

Nikhil’s Kasturi Dhoop Sticks

This is a 5 inch dipped dhoop stick. From smelling the cold incense, it smells exactly like Medimix Sandal and Eladi Soap. When burnt I can get the Soapy smell from it, but the soapy smell gets reduced and gets overpowered by nice Musk fragrance, with sandalwood and sweet fragrance.

Tulasi Navrathri Amber Kasturi

A part of Tulasi Navrathri Gift Pack. This is a 7 inch perfumed incense, with its bamboo core dyed in reddish pink color. The fragrance when burnt is quite fresh, animalic and cosmetic-ish.

Arsi Musk

This is a 9 inch charcoal dipped incense. The fragrance when not burnt smells very soapy, clean and floral. When burnt, the soapyness note mixes with rosy, green, synthetic musk notes. It’s an ok incense.

Liberty Viji- Miracle Musk

This fragrance is part of their 7in1 pack. This is a 10 inch charcoal dipped incense. I did not enjoy this incense. It a very intense fragrance which is reminiscent of a musk scented floor cleaner. It’s very synthetic and just ughh.

Cycle Egyptian Musk

This is a 9 inch hand rolled charcoal-dipped incense. The fragrance is the same as Cycle’s Flute Musk. It’s clean, musky, woody and sweet, but this has sandalwood and earthy notes. It’s nice.

Vedic Vaani Amber Musk Heena

This is a 9 inch handrolled masala incense, and the paste has been rolled very thick onto the bamboo core. The fragrance when not burnt has sweet, perfumey, musky, earthy notes. When burnt, these notes comes alive with strong, herbal, grassy notes of heena, with floral, spicy, agarwood notes. 

Vedic Vaani Heena Kasturi

This is a 9 inch handrolled masala incense. The initial smell is of heena. It’s grassy, herbal, floral and strong with animalic note of musk. When burnt, these notes comes alive with sandalwood, rose and saffron notes. I really love this incense and will repurchase it.

Vedic Vaani Sacred Atisaurabha Kasturi Musk

This is also a 9 inch masala incense, which has been rolled onto the bamboo sticks very generously. The cold incense smells like a rum cake batter to me. It’s very buttery, alcoholic, fruity, nutty and sweet, with warm, earthy note of musk. When burnt, these notes gets mixes with floral, spicy, caramel-ish, resinous notes. It’s a very luxurious, gourmand type of fragrance and is great for any occasion. I really love this.

Vinasons Super Musk

This is a handrolled masala incnese. When sniffing the cold incense, there is earthy, floral notes with mild camphor, musk and a note which reminds me of vermilion powder. When burnt, the musk and woody notes becomes more intense, while the vermilion powder note fades away. It’s good, but I would prefer the musk scent o be a little bit more intense.

Tulasi Sarathi 234 Deluxe Kasturi

The sticks are 10 inches and it’s a machine extruded masala stick with little incense powder sprinkled on top and the bottom bamboo stick is dyed in bright, hot pink. I love this. It has that wooly animal musk fragrance with intense floral hints and betal nut, betal leaf, rosy, spicy and sweet fragrance of Pan Masala, which is a chewing tobacco. This instantly reminded me of my Grandma’s fragrance which takes me back to nostalgia.

Hem Precious Musk

This is a 8 inch charcoal incnese, the fragrance when not burnt is of floral, clean synthetic musk. When burnt, these notes comes alive with sandalwood notes. It’s a very mild synthetic musk incense which is very pleasant.

vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1491
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Vithaldas Narayandas & Sons (Vinasons) Incense
Jasmine & Mogra, चमेली और मोगरा, ياسمين و موجراMusk, कस्तूरी, المسكRose, गुलाब, ورد
Brief Chemistry- an active redditor on r/incense and my friend, sent me samples of Vinasons along with other incenses to try out for in the late 2025. Vithaldas Narayandas & Sons or Vinasons, is an attar and incense manufacturer which was founded in 1883 by Manmohandas Sugandhi, making it one of the oldest incense manufacturers. […]
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Brief Chemistry- an active redditor on r/incense and my friend, sent me samples of Vinasons along with other incenses to try out for in the late 2025.

Vithaldas Narayandas & Sons or Vinasons, is an attar and incense manufacturer which was founded in 1883 by Manmohandas Sugandhi, making it one of the oldest incense manufacturers. They are based in Pune, and they have a shop in Budhwar Peth, which is one of the red-light districts in India. I saw a video about Vinasons on YouTube, which talked about their Amber Kasturi incense. The main takeaway from this video was that this incense is used in Belur Math and other Ramakrishna Math mission centers, although Ramakrishna Math sells their own incenses. Here’s the video if you’re interested to watch it.

Vinasons manufactures both charcoal and masala incense sticks, along with dhoops, sambrani cups, attars, rose water, gulkand (rose petal jam), and tikas

Vinasons But Mogra-

But Mogra is a type of jasmine flower. We usually spell it as “Butt Mogra”, but that name would be a bit embarrassing and funny if the incense is exported. Since Vinasons exports their incenses around the world, I guess they spelt it as ‘But’.

This is a charcoal incnese which is handrolled and 8 inch in length. The fragrance when not burnt is of pleasant Jasmine fragrance with patchouli and sandalwood notes. When burnt, these notes get mixed with musky and citrusy notes. This is really a GREAT mogra incense. Will repurchase this.

9.5/10- Outstanding.

Also Reviewed By-

  • SamsaSpoon from Rauchfahne-
Vinasons: Mogra, But Mogra
Vinasons Super Musk-

This is a handrolled masala incnese. When sniffing the cold incense, there is earthy, floral notes with mild camphor, musk and a note which reminds me of vermilion powder. When burnt, the musk and woody notes becomes more intense, while the vermilion powder note fades away. 

7.2/10- Good.

Also Reviewed By-

Vinasons Lavender-

This is a handrolled masala incense, with its bamboo core dyes in a beautiful bluish-purple. The fragrance when not burnt is of fresh, perfumed lavender with chamomile, citrus notes. When burnt, these notes come alive with woody, eucalyptus, pine notes. There is also a note which reminds me of rubbing alcohol.

I love this. It’s fresh, clean lavender fragrance which is perfect for everyday use and for special occasions.

9.5/10- Outstanding.

Vinasons Green Rose-

This is a handrolled charcoal incense. The cold incnese has the powdery rose note with sandalwood. When burnt, the powdery rose and creamy sandalwood mixes with sweet, vanilla, spicy cloves, and smokey black cardamom and tonka beans.

I had tried this incense before and it is really nice. It is still one of my favorite rose blended incense along with Vaishnavi Flora.

9.4/10- Outstanding.

Also Reviewed By-

Vinasons: Golden Rose, Green Rose
Vinasons Special Gulab-

Gulab is a word given to Indian Rose. This is a handrolled charcoal incense, with its bamboo core dyed in turmeric yellow and at the ends, it was reddish pink. The cold incense smells like freshly distilled rose water. When more this note gets more intense, with green, earthy notes.

8.5/10- Very Good.

Apart from the Green Rose that I’ve previously tried, all of them are very new to me. I really loved the But Mogra and Lavender, and it’s going to be in my repurchase list. The Special Gulab is also a good rose incense and I love that scent of rose water. Super musk was good but would have been better if the musk note was very much pronounced, as I love a very strong , animalic musk.

vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1450
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Shroff Champa
Shroff Channabasappa & Co.
This incense was part of my July 2025 Haul and I ordered this incense from Scenting Secrets website. This incense retails 115 rupees for 25g, but in scenting secrets, this retails for 81 rupees. Scenting Secrets recently stocked on Shroff incenses in India. Before, Shroff was only selling in export markets and I had to […]
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This incense was part of my July 2025 Haul and I ordered this incense from Scenting Secrets website. This incense retails 115 rupees for 25g, but in scenting secrets, this retails for 81 rupees.

Scenting Secrets recently stocked on Shroff incenses in India. Before, Shroff was only selling in export markets and I had to get it from their factory which is in the Avenue Road, Bengaluru. Now they are slowly releasing their incense to the Indian market. For now they have 13 incenses in the Indian market. Champa refers to Frangipani or Plumeria flowers.

This is a 9 inch masala incense and is part of their wet incense, as the paste in this incense is little bit wet. The fragrance when not burnt is reminiscent of champa flower. It’s sweet, floral, citrusy, fresh and crisp with resinous, woody notes. When burnt, these notes come together with musky, earthy, jasmine and green notes. In the middle of burning this incense, there is a note which reminds my of grapefruit and mint which is pleasant, but also a very mild rubbery note can be detected. It’s like Malaan Swarna Champa Dhoop minus the frankincense note.

The smoke intensity is medium, and the diffusion of this incense is to a whole living room and the fragrance retention after the burn is 30mins.

I enjoyed this incense, because the fragrance is different from any other champa scented incense.

8.7/10- Very Good.

vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1441
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Pakeezah Incenses- Padmini, Stamford and Sai Handicrafts
Padmini ProductsSai HandicraftsStamford
Pakeezah ( पाकीज़ा, پاکیزہ), a beautiful word, which means pure, pristine. This word has been derived from Persian/Farsi language and has travelled its way to Hindustani languages, which are Hindi and Urdu . There are multiple uses of this word, a notable example, is the 1972 Hindi/Urdu movie Pakeezah, starring Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar. […]
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Pakeezah ( पाकीज़ा, پاکیزہ), a beautiful word, which means pure, pristine. This word has been derived from Persian/Farsi language and has travelled its way to Hindustani languages, which are Hindi and Urdu . There are multiple uses of this word, a notable example, is the 1972 Hindi/Urdu movie Pakeezah, starring Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar. Pakiza is also a name for a saffron flavored variant of a milk based Indian/Bengali sweet Cham Cham.

There are many incenses named after this word. Padmini’s Pakeezah is the well known one. I decided to do a comparative review as I have 2 other incenses from Stamford and Sai Handicrafts which are named after Pakeezah.

Padmini Pakeezah

The most well known Pakeezah incense. This is a 9 inch masala incense and the paste is very deep terracotta red in color. When sniffing the cold incense, the immediate notes of spices, resins (specifically benzoin), sandalwood, jasmine and is heavy in floral notes. When burnt, these notes come together with green, creamy, almost fruity, and musky notes. There is also subtle oudh, tuberose and nutty notes just joining in between the main notes.

I really love this incense. It’s a classic, very pungent Flora incense which suites my sensory preferences.

9.5/10- Outstanding.

Also reviewed by-

Steve from Incense In The Wind

Stamford Pakeezah-

I got this sample of 2 sticks from Steve who runs a amazing blog Incense In the Wind. This is a 8 inch handrolled masala incnese. The paste color exactly resembles the Padmini’s version, but this one is 1 inch shorter in length and the bamboo core is dyed in hot pink. When sniffing the cold incense, it’s quite similar to Padmini’s version, but it’s quite mild and has a sugary, caramel notes. When burnt, the fragrance has been intensified and is similar to Padmini, but with the addition of minty and parijatha notes.

I was curious to try this incense, just because I had a feeling that this was made by Padmini, cuz Stamford sources their incenses from many manufacturers, and Padmini is one of the. I really enjoy this incense and I found it to be 80-88% same to Padmini’s, so it could be that this was made by Padmini.

9.5/10- Outstanding.

Also reviewed by-

Steve from Incense In The Wind

-SamsaSpoon from Rauchfahne-

Stamford – Pakeezah
Sai Handicrafts Pakiza-

I also got this sample from Steve. Sai Handicrafts is based in UK and usually deals in Indian handicrafts. The sticks are  8 inch and handrolled. Unlike the two Pakeezahs, this one is bright red, like Kumkum (Red Vermilion Powder). The cold incense has the same elements as of the two Pakeezahs, but the notes of vanilla are more prominent in this. When burnt, these notes mingle together with buttery, tobacco notes. This is however not that pungent compared to the previous two Pakeezahs.

8.7/10- Very Good.

Also reviewed by-

Steve from Incense In The Wind

In conclusion, the notes that are common in both of them are spicy, sandalwood, heavy floral and resinous. They all are nice in their respective ways and are a beautiful ode to the word Pakeezah.

vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1424
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Forest Fragrance Lajawab
Rose, गुलाब, ورد
I got this incense from aavyaa.com during March 2024. This incense contains 10 sticks and is retailed at 25 ruppes, while a larger 50g pack of this incense is for 90 rupees. Forest Fragrances are based in the city of Bangalore, the incense capital of India. Lajawab is a Hindi/Urdu word which means extraordinary or […]
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I got this incense from aavyaa.com during March 2024. This incense contains 10 sticks and is retailed at 25 ruppes, while a larger 50g pack of this incense is for 90 rupees.

Forest Fragrances are based in the city of Bangalore, the incense capital of India. Lajawab is a Hindi/Urdu word which means extraordinary or something that’s so special, you just don’t have any words to describe it.

This is a 9 inch handrolled masala incense and the incenses are packed into a printed plastic packaging. The fragrance when not burnt is very floral, and by floral, I mean rose. When burnt, the delicate, fresh notes of rose comes alive with sweet, musky, cosmetic and woody notes. A mix of strawberry and milky notes also gets noticeable when burnt. The diffusion is not that much, it spreads throughout the living room and the smoke level is medium.

I enjoyed this incense. It’s a nice rose masala incense and there is nothing pretentious about it. It’s just simple, a bit feminine, rose incense. I think this can be a great incense for daily burn and for any special occasion.

8.2/10- Very Good.

vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1416
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Cycle Royal Secret
Cycle Brand (N.Ranga Rao & Sons)
I ordered this incense from cycle.in website during the month of July 2025. This incense retails at 200 rupees for 20 sticks, so for one stick, it retails for 10 rupees. This incense was launched in 2021 and is part of their ‘Specialty’ line. In their website, this is how they describe this incense- ”The […]
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I ordered this incense from cycle.in website during the month of July 2025. This incense retails at 200 rupees for 20 sticks, so for one stick, it retails for 10 rupees.

This incense was launched in 2021 and is part of their ‘Specialty’ line. In their website, this is how they describe this incense-

”The Royal Secret Premium Masala Agarbatti is an exclusive creation from the House of Cycle Pure Agarbathies. This fragrance is a delightful blend of rich Sandalwood and Amber resin with a touch of Floral Rose and Champaka. It is highly impactful and long-lasting.

We have created it for the discerning consumer who likes to explore and enjoys exclusive fragrances.

Crafted the traditional way, the Royal Secret Premium Masala Agarbatti reminds us of the erstwhile royal splendor of our country. It exudes a fragrance that is mystical and reminiscent of the days of royalty and the Kings and Queens of India.

The proof of its exquisite and heavenly qualities lies in experiencing its fragrance.

Light one of this regal creation to experience its magic and let its aromatic blend uplift your senses and ambiance.”

This is a 9 inch masala incense, with 1 inch of bamboo core left for it to be placed in the holder. The fragrance when not burnt is very strong and pungent. It’s full of musky, green, sandalwood and champa notes. When burnt, these notes mingle in together with mogra, spicy cinnamon, clove, mace and nutmeg notes, with a zing of fresh, sweet grapefruit note. There is also that peculiar animalic note which is always there in Cycle’s masala incense, but with a mix of gentle rose that pokes in between the burn.

The diffusion is to a large area. One stick will spread throughout a whole living room and burns for good 1 hour. The retention is super high, with the scent lingering on for a good 10 hours and the scent really clings onto curtains very well.

I really enjoyed this incense. It is really complex, and a unique scent which can sure be a complement magnet for your house. If you like a incense which is pungent, woody, floral, musky and spicy, than Royal Secret is for you.

9.8/10- Outstanding.

Also reviewed by-

– Dolly from Om Incense Show

-SamsaSpoon from Rauchfahne

Cycle Brand – Royal Secret
vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1408
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Sree Vani Special Oudh
Oudh, अगरु, عودSree Vani Perfumery Works
Happy New Year everyone! So sorry for not being active in thsi blog, as I was occupied in a lot of work, but from now on, I will give regular reviews. I bought this incense from Sree Vani’s ‘Indian Heritage’ stall, which was in Global Village’s India Pavilion. Global Village is an amusement park, with […]
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Happy New Year everyone! So sorry for not being active in thsi blog, as I was occupied in a lot of work, but from now on, I will give regular reviews.

I bought this incense from Sree Vani’s ‘Indian Heritage’ stall, which was in Global Village’s India Pavilion.

Global Village is an amusement park, with different pavilions, representing each country. The incenses you would find there are priced very high. In Sree Vani’s stall, this retails for 20 DHS (490 INR, 5 USD, 4 GBP, 5 EUR), while at some stalls in the Indian pavilion, they retails this for 50 DHS, which is 2.5 times more than the original cost. Some of these shops are also selling a single pack of Cycle’s Three in One for 10 DHS, where as most of the Grocery Stores, Incense Stores and Pooja Stores are selling single pack of Three in One for 1- 2 dhs, and the dozen pack for 10 dhs.

Sree Vani is an incense manufacturer based in Bangalore, and was founded in the year 1983. They make a wide range of incenses, most of them are masala and mainly appeal towards the western market. This Special Oudh along with their Arbani, Zafrani and Chandan Shree are mainly aimed at Gulf and Indian markets.

At the Back of the box, this is what they have to write about this incense-

”Deep and sophisticated, SREE VANI OUDH incense are a peerless exotic Oudh crafted from the finest Indian and Combodi Oudh. Our Oudh incense is also a testament to the sheer purity of Oudh – a veritable ode to the exacting standards one expects from the finest quality Oudh. It represents SREE VANI’s mission to craft real Oudh. Our Oudh incense is one of the most exclusive incense among our oriental creations. The top note carries rich Woody notes in harmony with pure Turkish Rose oil and a blend of exotic Indian Herbs. The heart exudes an Ambery and Woody feel with the base culminating in Musky-Powdery, soft-animalic and Rosy notes.”

This is a 9 inch handrolled masala incense, with the core dyed in red color. The fragrance when not burnt is a mix of strong, animalic, woody oudh and warm, spicy cinnamon. When burnt, the oudh and cinnamon notes shines bright with notes of royal saffron, elegant musk, floral, delicate rose and herbal notes.

The diffusion is to a large area and smoke level is medium. It retains its fragrance for a good 4 hours.

Ooof, it’s a very elegant oudh incense. The notes blend in nicely, but does not interfere with the main oudh note. The quantity of sticks and the fragrance makes it an incense worth for 20 dhs. I love it and will definitely repurchase this.

9.2/10- Outstanding.

vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1400
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Vrindavan Bazaar Incenses
Oudh, अगरु, عود
I received samples of Vrindavan Bazaar incense from my dear friend Steve, who runs a fantastic blog- Incense In The Wind. Vrindavan Bazaar is a website that sells Hindu religious goods. It is based in the holy city of Vrindawan, where Lord Krishna spent his childhood. Vrindavan Bazaar, along with Rasbihari Lal & Sons and […]
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I received samples of Vrindavan Bazaar incense from my dear friend Steve, who runs a fantastic blog- Incense In The Wind.

Vrindavan Bazaar is a website that sells Hindu religious goods. It is based in the holy city of Vrindawan, where Lord Krishna spent his childhood. Vrindavan Bazaar, along with Rasbihari Lal & Sons and Hare Krishna Das, are the main suppliers (and manufacturers??) of incense based in Vrindavan. I’m not sure if Vrindavan Bazaar makes these incenses, then might source it from other incense manufacturers.

All of the incenses I received are masala incenses, but I heard that they also sell charcoal incenses. I’ve also noticed that their batch differs, take for example, their Prabhupada incense. When Steve has reviewed it for first time, he received a charcoal dipped incense, but after the comment left by a r/incense redditor Brief Chemistry, he mentioned that he got the masala version of the same incense. Them on his second review with the masala stick of Prabhupada sent by Brief Chemistry, he also noticed that both of them smell very different. So it’s seems that the batch and fragrance might differ.

The reviews of the incenses will be from the highest to the lowest scores.

Vrindavan Bazaar Mayapur

 Mayapur is a town in West Bengal, which has a religious significance as it was the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, regarded as a special incarnation of Krishna in the mood of Radha. Oooh this is something special. Resinous floral notes mingle with notes of sandalwood and musk, with powdery, milky and earthy notes. Mmmmm.. My Favorite!

9.5/10- Outstanding.

Vrindavan Bazaar Tulsi

Another great incense. It’s herbal, bittersweet like tulsi, with vanilla, floral notes and somehow, there is hints of cool, bakhoor like, musky and resinous notes which resembles Cycle’s Asli Bakhoor. It’s very nice.

8.9/10- Very Good.

Vrindavan Bazaar Woods

 Wow, this is actually quite good. It’s woody, vanilla, musky, smoky, floral and mossy, with a note which reminds me of dry fruits roasted in ghee or clarified butter. It’s nicely done.

8.6/10- Very Good.

Vrindavan Bazaar Agarwood

Has the slightest hint of agarwood (oudh), which appears to be woody, floral and green. There is also some smokyness, resinous and powdery note appearing throughout the burn. It’s good and a very milder version of a agarwood incense.

8.2/10- Very Good.

Vrindavan Bazaar Loban

It’s a machine extruded resin incense with the bamboo stick dyed green in color. The fragrance when burnt is reminiscent of benzoin, with vanilla, woody, spicy and burnt sugar note which mixes with the benzoin very nicely. It’s a well done loban incense.

7.7/10- Good.

Vrindavan Bazaar Parijatha

There is a subtle note of Parijatha (Night Queen Flower), which appears to be sweet, jasmine and earthy. With that, woody, resinous and patchouli notes gets mingled together. It’s a nice parijat incnese but the parijat note is very mild, I would prefer if they had made the parijat note more prominent.

7.6/10- Good.

Vrindavan Bazaar Swami

Swami means sage or master in Hindi. The fragrance when initially burnt reminds me a lot of Laxmi Dhoop. It’s very industrial, floral type fragrance, but in Swami, this eventually gets overpowered by a nice woody, fruity, and jasmine note. It is a great surprise and I like it. 

7.1/10- Good.

Overall, I enjoyed these Vrindavan Bazaar Incenses. They are good, masala incenses but I found them quite crude and these masala incenses are likely for everyday use. I would repurchase their Mayapur, Tulsi and Woods. I would likely buy their Agarwood, Parijatha and Loban but I found their scent to be quite ordinary, same goes for their Swami.

Do check out Steve’s review on Vrindavan Bazaar Incenses-

vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1339
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Alaukik Solitaire Collection Black & Gold
Alaukik Incenses
I got this incense from Carrefour Hypermarket, which has a huge selection of incenses from many famous brands like Cycle, Shalimar, Alaukik, Nikhil’s and Prime. Alaukik Incenses is based in Rajkot, Gujarat. What I’ve noticed about all the incenses based in Gujarat, especially this one, is that there are very creative when it comes to […]
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I got this incense from Carrefour Hypermarket, which has a huge selection of incenses from many famous brands like Cycle, Shalimar, Alaukik, Nikhil’s and Prime.

Alaukik Incenses is based in Rajkot, Gujarat. What I’ve noticed about all the incenses based in Gujarat, especially this one, is that there are very creative when it comes to incenses. Alaukik is well known for their Pineapple incense and because of Alaukik, everyone is making pineapple scented incenses and also prompted Alaukik to make more fruity scents like Cherry (the one which I hate), Kiwi etc.

This is a 9 inch dipped sawdust incense. Alaukik uses sawdust for all of their incenses, except for their Loban incense. The fragrance when not burnt gives off a contemporary scent. This modern aroma is what all incense manufacturers in India also make. It has notes of lavender, vanilla, musky and aldehyde in it. When burnt, these notes shine with minty, woody, and sweet citrusy notes.

The smoke intensity its medium and it diffuses throughout the living room. It burns for 45 minutes and its fragrance retains for a good 30 minutes after it has been extinguished. I usually don’t like contemporary fragrances in incenses but this one is an exception. It’s a very strong, masculine fragrance. It’s good and is better to freshen up your house.

7.5/10- Good.

vidvatampugkumar
http://ratnagandh.wordpress.com/?p=1359
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Stamford London Mythical Range
Steve, from the blog Incense in the Wind has sent me these along with other incenses to try out for. Stamford London is an incense company based in UK. It is a continuation of Aargee, which is also a company that imports incenses and ethnic gifts. Stamford does not make their own incenses. They source […]
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Steve, from the blog Incense in the Wind has sent me these along with other incenses to try out for.

Stamford London is an incense company based in UK. It is a continuation of Aargee, which is also a company that imports incenses and ethnic gifts. Stamford does not make their own incenses. They source from incense manufacturers like Padmini, Shrinivas Sugandhalaya (Satya), Goloka, and Sarathi International (Tulasi).

These are from their Mythical Range which has names of incense related to magic or gothic if that’s the correct word to describe the names.

All of these incenses are 9 inch dipped charcoal incense, which has a mild brown tint to it and the bamboo core is dyed in hot pink.

Vampire’s Kiss

Delicate musky, woody aromas  with  herbal and burning smoky notes. It’s a ok incense as the fragrance is very mild and the smoky notes overpowers it. Not my preference.  

6.4/10- Not Great, Not Terrible. 

Angel’s Touch

NO!

2/10- What a Bummer!

Witches’ Curse

It is a sweet, musky fragrance with smoky sandalwood, rose and a note which reminds me of some candy. It’s ok.

6.5/10- Not Great, Not Terrible!

Demon’s Lust-

Soapy, floral fragrance with smoky sandalwood, musk, and fresh notes. I generally don’t like soapy floral fragrances in my incenses but this is acceptable to me, but I also don’t find this quite attractive.

6.2/10- Not Great, Not Terrible!

Fairy’s Mist-

Idk why but I kind of like this. It’s floral, sweet caramel, saffron and musky with the same smoky note which somehow goes well with it. It’s good.

7.4/10- Good.

Overall I found this range ok. I suppose this is an older box as all these scents appear milder, which is one of the characteristics of a dipped incense, that some of them don’t hold onto their fragrance for longer.

Check out Steve’s Reviews on Stamford Mythical Range Incenses-

vidvatampugkumar
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