|
|
|
 |
Incense from Balarama's
The basic ingredients of our incenses are natural wood powders from
managed plantations & hand cut bamboo splints. Added to this are the
fragrant ingredients comprising resins, plant oils and aromatic herbs .
The more expensive and exclusive the product, the more complex and
varied are the additives which can be drawn from the whole gamut of
natural and, in these modern days, laboratory formulated fragrances. The
word “incense” has numerous connotations. In its widest sense it refers
to the material which burns (or releases a vapor) with a fragrant odor.
It may also just refer to the fragrance produced in this way. In the
classical days of the incense trade and the incense road, the word was
narrowly and most typically related to the true frankincense from
southern Arabia.
A long established cottage industry, incense-making still follows a
traditional pattern in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam
and elsewhere in the region.
Obviously the most striking feature of incense is its variety.
Frankincense may have been the coveted aromatic of the ancient world,
yet it is but one fragrance and incense is more frequently a compound
made up of a blend of gums, resin and spices.
 |
|
Metaphysical Origins
Akin to what a candle does to a darkened room, the aroma of incense
offers warmth and tranquility to the senses of its enthusiasts. Thus, it
serves as little wonder that its origins are deeply rooted in the
spiritual and religious practices of the Orient.
An essential element in virtually all Oriental religious offerings,
incense can be found from Singapore to Shanghai, from Bangkok to
Bangalore. It is seen in all Buddhist temples where fragrant smoke
spirals up from countless sticks placed in front of the presiding Buddha
spirit-houses honoring all manner of potent forces. The incense is
constant, the ritual of its use however, is complex and varied. |
Hand rolled incense.
Our Indian branch makes
this style of incense. |
|
Various cultures may view the burning of incense as an end in itself, as
an offering, or see it as being symbolic of prayers ascending to the
heavens. One widely held Chinese belief sites incense as a channel for
communication – a “telephone” – between man and the divine spirits. The
“call” to the other world begins as the incense is lit and ends once the
stick is consumed. Similarly, incense presented with food offerings is
not part of the gift; rather the smoke serves as signal to the gods that
a meal has been prepared for them.
Such communication is also governed by a certain protocol. For example,
while most gods might be contacted by red-tipped incense, vegetarian
divinities might require yellow sticks, and spirits green ones. For
instance, Thais light three sticks to pay homage to the Buddha, but only
one is used when ancestors are being honored. Such rules vary from
culture to culture, and between rituals, depending on whether or not it
is devotional, placatory, celebratory or festive.
There is also considerable difference in how incense is burnt. Sticks
may simply be stuck in a bowl of sand, or consumed in elegant
incense-burners, such as those created in the past by the Chinese in the
form of hills and mountains from which incense smoke wafted like mist.
|
|
Practical Applications
Among its wide variety of practical applications, incense may be a
substance which is burnt by sprinkling it over lighted charcoal in a
censer, or it may be a material, commonly attached to a slender wooden
stick, which can be lit and will burn by itself.
Incense has also proven itself to having several intriguing
non-spiritual applications in Asia over the centuries, although now
largely forgotten. Among the more amazing of China’s many inventions was
the incense clock, which existed as early as the Tang dynasty. Time was
measured simply with an incense stick whose length had been marked off
into hourly intervals.
Far more ingenious however, were “incense seals”. These early fragrant
timepieces were in the form of circular wooden seals, divided into 12
interconnected segments, each representing one shih, the Chinese hour
which is equivalent to two Western hours. Wood ash was packed into these
interconnecting lines so that when the seal was lifted the pattern
remained. Incense mixture is then carefully poured along the full-length
of the wood-ash path, and when lit the incense would burn along the path
at a predictable rate, lasting for a period of 12 shih, or 24 hours.
The advent of mechanical clocks in the 16th century marked the general
demise of incense-seal timepieces. This practice, however, flourished in
Japanese geisha houses until the 1920s. Here, incense sticks with a
burning time of half an hour were used, one being lighted as a girl
became employed during the evening and replenished as necessary, thus
computing the time a geisha spent with her client.
More pedestrian uses of incense in olden times include driving away
mosquitoes and other bothersome insects, relieving nasal congestion with
a medicinal herb mixed with incense, and simply providing a pleasant
aroma in the homes of the well-to-do. Occasionally in the past, incense
was also applied to a person’s body in the form of an ointment. It was
also thought to be an effective germicide; in the past, people believed
it capable of driving away evil spirits associated with diseases. In
modern times, it is the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties of
incense compounds which are valued.
|
For more information please contact
Sales Support
in our sales and marketing office.
<salessupport@balarama.com>
|
