Nitiraj Buddha 25 grams

Spices and sweet floral oils over sandalwood. Warm, rounded, nothing sharp in it. Named for the Buddha, the one who woke up, and pitched at the practice rather than the achievement.

Burn it for sitting. It is a good length for a meditation session, since an hour is longer than most people sit and the stick will outlast you rather than the other way around.

How It Is Made

Nitiraj has been making incense in India since 1978 using a method that goes back centuries. Natural resins, herbs, spices and aromatic oils are worked into a base of honey and sandalwood powder, then rolled onto a bamboo stick by hand. A masala stick made this way stays soft to the touch rather than drying hard, and it burns slowly. Nitiraj is registered with the World Fair Trade Organization.

How to Burn It

Each stick burns for about an hour and the scent stays in the room for a good while after. Set it in a holder that catches ash, light the tip, let it flame for a few seconds, then blow it out and leave it to smolder.

These are made by hand from natural material in small runs, so the same blend can smell a little different from one box to the next. That is the nature of the thing rather than a fault.

Pair It With

If you burn through a box quickly, the rest of the line is worth having on the shelf: Nitiraj Original, Chandra, Shiva. A masala stick drops soft ash, so it wants a holder with a channel or a tray rather than a spike on a saucer. The Mango Wood Tree of Life ash catcher and the carved soapstone leaf both do the job. More in incense holders.