The Forgotten Incense of Ancient India: Rediscovering Lost Recipes and Traditions
When you think of incense, chances are you picture the familiar agarbatti sticks you can find in any market. But did you know that India’s incense-making traditions go back over 5,000 years? Long before modern production methods took over, ancient Indian incense makers had mastered the art of blending resins, woods, herbs, and even sweeteners into sophisticated aromatic creations. These blends weren’t just about pleasant smells—they were deeply tied to spiritual rituals, Ayurvedic healing, and everyday life.
Ancient texts like the Gandhasara and Haramekhala documented elaborate incense recipes and the botanical wisdom behind them. Over time, though, much of this knowledge faded, overshadowed by mass production and synthetic fragrances. Let’s dive into the rich, forgotten history of Indian incense and uncover the lost art of crafting these sacred blends.
How Incense Became a Spiritual and Healing Art?
Incense-making in India dates back to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods (around 3300–1300 BCE). The earliest mentions of incense appear in the Rigveda and Atharvaveda—ancient Hindu scriptures that described the use of aromatic substances in religious ceremonies. But incense wasn’t just about creating a sacred atmosphere—it was part of a broader cultural and spiritual framework.
As Hinduism evolved and Buddhism emerged around the 6th century BCE, incense became more deeply woven into spiritual practices. It wasn’t just used in temples; it was believed to purify spaces, deepen meditation, and help connect with the divine. Around 200 CE, Buddhist monks carried Indian incense-making techniques to China, sparking a cross-cultural exchange that influenced incense traditions across Asia.
But the role of incense didn’t stop at spirituality. Ayurveda—the ancient Indian system of medicine—recognized that specific aromatic compounds could influence mental and physical health. Ayurvedic physicians began creating incense formulas designed to treat everything from anxiety to digestive issues. This blending of spiritual and medicinal uses reflects how ancient Indian thought saw physical and spiritual wellbeing as two sides of the same coin.
The Lost Classification System of Indian Incense
Ancient Indian texts, including the Mahabharata, reveal a surprisingly detailed system for classifying incense. Incense, or dhupa, was divided into three main types based on how it was made and what it contained:
1. Niryasa: The Sacred Resins
The first category, niryasa, included natural tree resins like:
- Guggul (Commiphora wightii)
- Sal resin (Shorea robusta)
- Indian frankincense (Boswellia serrata)
Harvesting these resins was a sacred practice. Specific trees were tapped using techniques that ensured the tree’s health, and the collection was often done during auspicious times by skilled practitioners. These resins were highly valued for temple rituals and meditation because they were believed to purify spaces and enhance spiritual focus.
2. Sarin: The Heartwood Treasures
Sarin referred to incense made from heartwoods, roots, flowers, and herbs. The most prized materials were:
- Agarwood (aloeswood)
- Sandalwood
These ingredients were processed using specialized techniques that extracted their aromatic compounds without damaging their essence. Sarin incense was often reserved for royal ceremonies and elite gatherings—it wasn’t just about the fragrance but the craftsmanship involved in creating complex aromatic profiles.
3. Kritrima: The Artfully Crafted Blends
Kritrima covered incense that was artificially crafted using creative combinations of natural ingredients. This included blends made with:
- Jaggery (unrefined cane sugar)
- Honey
- Ghee
Kritrima represented the height of incense-making artistry. These blends weren’t just random mixtures—they were carefully designed to produce specific effects. The Sharngadhara-paddhati text even describes methods for combining ingredients to create stable aromatic compounds.
Ancient Recipes Lost to Time
Ancient Indian texts preserve detailed recipes for incense that have almost disappeared from modern practice. These formulations show a deep understanding of botanical chemistry and aromatic balance.
Divine Perfume for Temple Worship
One ancient recipe, called “divine perfume,” was designed for temple offerings:
“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. Add jaggery to this final mixture and prepare oblong tablets. This is called ‘divine incense’ and is amiable to all gods.”
This blend wasn’t just about creating a pleasant scent—it reflected a belief that specific ingredients could spiritually charge a space and make it suitable for divine presence.
Functional Incense for Daily Life
Incense wasn’t only for religious use—it served practical purposes too. One ancient recipe for pest control included:
“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.”
This shows that ancient Indian incense makers had a clear understanding of how certain plant compounds could repel insects—a practice backed by modern science today.
Royal Incense Formulations
For the royal courts, the Sharngadhara-paddhati outlined a sophisticated recipe:
“An 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 proportion…”
The careful use of “progressive proportion” points to a mathematical approach to creating complex aromatic layers—a technique lost in modern incense-making.
The Ayurvedic Foundation of Incense Crafting
Ayurvedic incense-making wasn’t just about fragrance—it was a form of energy work based on balancing the five elements:
- Ether (Akasha): Represented by fruits like Citrus Medica and piper cubeba—linked to expansiveness and consciousness.
- Water (Jala): Found in sandalwood, aloeswood, cedar, frankincense, and myrrh—cooling and calming.
- Earth (Prithvi): Root-based ingredients like turmeric, ginger, and vetiver—grounding and stabilizing.
- Fire (Tejas): Floral aromatics like clove—warming and transformative.
- Air (Vayu): Leaves like patchouli—circulating and dispersing fragrance.
This elemental approach reflects an ancient understanding of how plant essences affect mental and emotional states—a precursor to modern aromatherapy.
Balancing the Doshas
In Ayurveda, incense was also used to balance the three doshas:
- Vata (air and ether) → Calmed with warming spices like cinnamon and clove
- Pitta (fire and water) → Soothed with cooling agents like sandalwood and vetiver
- Kapha (earth and water) → Stimulated with pungent scents like camphor and ginger
Why Has This Knowledge Disappeared?
So why did these complex traditions fade? The rise of industrial production in the 19th and 20th centuries replaced natural ingredients with synthetic ones. Handmade incense, once crafted with care and spiritual intent, became a mass-produced commodity. Ancient techniques for resin extraction, heartwood processing, and complex blending were lost in the process.
But traces of this lost knowledge remain. Ancient texts, fragmented recipes, and oral traditions hold the key to reviving these practices. Modern makers who look to the past might just rediscover the magic of ancient Indian incense—and bring back the artistry that defined it for millennia.
Indian incense-making wasn’t just about creating a pleasant aroma—it was a sacred science. And perhaps, with a little curiosity and care, we can reclaim some of that forgotten wisdom today.