Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Divya Drishti

Divya Drishti is available in the UK as part of a combo of all seven scents in the TTD range (which are named after the seven sacred hills (Sapthagiri) around Tirumala Temple) for £17.99 from GiriUk. Available in India by itself from FlipKart for ₹399 (before discount).  I'm not seeing it in other countries. 

The sticks I have were made by Darshan International of Bangalore out of recycled temple flowers from the temple on behalf of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the trust that looks after the  affairs of the temple. This scent plus two others, including Srishti, which I've already reviewed, were withdrawn by TTD after a government test found they contained banned chemical. I don't know who currently makes this and the other incenses for TTD.

Drishi is sold in a luxury box

 

Drishti has quite a heady perfume on the stick - floral, powdery, soft woods with hints of fruit and resin and a touch of rainbow-hued petrol. There is also an element of soap, which tends to come from florals and aldehydes. The incense is described as Premium Quality Flora Bathi. Flora is a common term in Indian incense, and can be easily misunderstood by those with little in-depth experience of Indian incense. It is, like "Premium Quality", primarily a marketing term. Though mostly associated with masala style incense, especially those sold in luxury boxes, it is also applied to basic everyday perfumed incense (incense which doesn't have a fluffy covering of melnoorva or "masala powder"). Incenses which are sold in imitation of Sri Sai Flora are possibly the best known Flora incense. These incenses will tend to be quite thick, wet, and heavy, with a preponderance of cheap fragrance oils. The aim isn't to be subtle or exquisite, it is to be intense and colourful. Because of the association of Flora with Sri Sai Flora, it is assumed that Flora is a distinct incense style consisting of a fat, wet, and strongly fragranced masala stick. But there are dry examples, light and subtle examples, and perfumed-charcoal examples of Flora incense. In general, most Indian incense makers and buyers see Flora as a code for "traditional" and "natural" incense - even though the incense may be using modern machinery and modern aroma chemicals. It would be regarded as an appropriate description for incense sold in association with a temple - the message being: "this is a traditional and pure incense which uses natural ingredients, and is appropriate for burning at home as an offering to the gods". From observation, I note that almost all incense sold in Vrindavan and Pushkar will be masala style, and largely regarded as Flora incense. I'll be able to check on this assertion when I visit those cities next month. 

The incense is a tad smoky on the burn. The scent is largely everyday synthetic sandalwood with some awareness of the recycled flowers in the combustible base. There is a sense of aldehydes, which brings a little clean brightness to the otherwise drab and dry greyness of the everyday sandalwood. I'm not enjoying this as much as the Srishti.

Date: Oct 2026   Score: 25/50

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Recycled Temple Flowers

Darshan Incense

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Divya Srishti

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the administrative body for Tirumala Temple, commissioned Darshan International of Bangalore to create incense sticks using recycled temple flowers as part of the combustible base - possibly influenced by Ankit Agrawal and Karan Rastogi of Phool in Kanpur, Northern India who started the recycled temple flowers trend. Unfortunately Darshan International wasn't a good choice as in May this year (2026) TTD discovered that at least three of the products made for them by Darshan - including Drishti and this  Srishti - contained harmful chemicals, and so they have ceased production, and invited other producers to take over production.  

This and three other TTD incenses were sent to me by Brief Chemistry earlier this year before either of us knew about the ban. Indeed, these may be among the last of the stock to be distributed before the ban was put in place. TTD were keen to keep costs down, and Darshan won the contract. TTD supplied the premises in Tirumala, and Darshan supplied the machinery and staff to train the locals.  It is unclear at the moment if Darshan are still involved in production. 

There is a heavy floral note on the stick - predominantly jasmine. It is sweet and powdery. I'm also getting a mild sense of damp, mouldy flowers, but I suspect that is purely suggestive from my previous experiences with recycled temple flowers incense. I don't think I would be picking up that scent if I wasn't aware that this incense uses flower waste. It's actually quite an acceptable fragrance. I'm not a lover of jasmine incense/perfume, so it doesn't appeal to me, but it is a decent scent. 

    

Divya Srishti means something like "divine creation", and the naming would likely not be suggestive of the fragrance, but of the attitude of the incense. That this is not a Western style incense, but is something natural, following ayurvedic guidance. That it would be soft, subtle, clean, not chemical. Something worthy of a temple, and of respect for the gods. There's a touch of camphor in the burn - which fits with the temple theme - something cleansing and calming. And there's sandalwood. It's actually a pretty decent incense. I'm no longer getting the rotting flowers smell. This presents as a decent masala incense with synthetic jasmine. Most Indian incenses, even when presented as masala, use aroma chemicals. It's a common part of Indian incense production. And especially if the scent is intended to be jasmine as true jasmine is silly expensive.  The testing and the subsequent ban was prompted by an Indian Government initiative launched in December 2025 which prohibits certain ingredients from incense production, such as benzyl cyanide which can be used as a cheap jasmine aroma substitute. I don't know if that is the case here. 

Anyway, on the whole an attractive and decently made recycled temple flower incense.  Available in the UK as part of a combo of all seven scents in the range (which are named after the seven sacred hills around Tirumala) for £17.99 from GiriUk. Available in India by itself from FlipKart for ₹499 (before discount).  I'm not seeing it in other countries. 

Date: Oct 2026   Score: 30/50

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Recycled Temple Flowers

Darshan Incense

Yamuna's Incense Serenity Sublime

Described as "Deeply relaxing. Soothing. Bright." with a scent profile based on cedarwood and frankincense, Serenity Sublime is a hand-rolled masala style incense made in India (most likely in Pune), and sold in Lithuania by Yamuna's Incense. 

The cold-throw scent on the stick has vanilla and sweet white chocolate dominate over tree bark and damp leaves. It's an attractive scent, though a little too similar to incense from Pune and Vrindavan, especially those made by HMS and VNS, for a person familiar with those incenses to get excited. Some of the scents offered by Yamuna's Incense do have an original twist, though a number of others are just too much the same as those sold by other European own brand importers such as Temple of Incense, Pure Incense, Bhaktivedanta Manor / Sacred Boutique, etc. On the whole I like Yamuna's Incense, especially when there is a sense of Yamuna getting involved in the scent profile to create a marriage of Lithuania and India, though the further I get into the range and come upon yet another overly familiar scent, minor tweak or not, the less interested and more jaded I become. If you're not too familiar with incense from Pune and Vrindavan, and you like the  Temple of Incense brand, you'll likely really enjoy Yamuna's Incense. 

The scent on the burn has less awareness of the vanilla, and more of the wood and resin comes forward. It has a gentle profile, and, because a charcoal is used instead of wood paste, there are no off-scents. It is a lovely incense, and lives up to the blurb of being "relaxing" and "soothing".  I do like this. 

Available starting at €14 plus shipping from Yamuna's Incense in Lithuania. If ordering outside the EU, ask Yamuna to check custom regulations carefully, otherwise you may pay a fine. 

Date: Oct 2026   Score:  38/50

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Yamuna's Incense

Yamuna's Incense Whirling Dervishes

One of the things that attracted me to the Lithuanian-based start-up Yamuna's Incense was the names of the scents: Seduce Me Not, Sing Me a Rainbow, The Summers We Forgot, etc. I like when names are creative, romantic, and playful. This one is Whirling Dervishes, which is  described as "Exotic. Meditative. Hypnotic.", and has a scent profile based on agarwood and jasmine. There's also some vanilla in the mix. An attractive mainstream Indian incense scent which will be familiar to those who buy incense from Vrindavan and Pune. Though it also has a slightly modern perfumed edge which is quite floral, and so ties in with the intended scent profile of jasmine. 

The fragrance on the burn is gentle and refined. It is Indian incense though with a sweet, modern, Western vibe. Woods, florals, and vanilla are in the accord. There's nothing particularly unusual or special about the scent, though it does behave well, and - thanks in part to the combustible being primarily a charcoal, and so having no smouldering off notes that can come from using a wood paste combustible, it is all quite clean and pure.  And it does leave a sweet and attractive aroma in the room for a good while afterwards. Nice one.

Available starting at €14 plus shipping from Yamuna's Incense in Lithuania. If ordering outside the EU, ask Yamuna to check custom regulations carefully, otherwise you may pay a fine. 

Date: Oct 2026   Score:  39/50

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Yamuna's Incense

Yamuna's Incense Sing Me a Rainbow

The packaging of Yamuna's Incense is elegant and stylish. The colours are carefully chosen and refined to convey a sense of quality, sophistication, and modernity, yet with an awareness of tradition. As with a number of small modern European own brand incense operations, the same packaging is used across the range - the only difference being the scent name is either hand-written or machine printed somewhere on the packaging. With Yamuna the name is hand-written along the side of the box in a gold colour that matches the logo and the tissue in which the sticks are wrapped.  A peacock feather was included in my order - I don't know if this is the case with every order. I like the peacock feather - which is quite ethical, as peacocks shed their feathers every year. 

The blurb for Sing Me a Rainbow is "Airy. Comforting. Soothing." The scent profile is based on lavender and sandalwood. The cold-throw scent on the stick is dominated by vanilla, which is typically found on incense made in Pune, especially by Haridas Madhavdas (HMS). There are also attractive woody notes. To anyone familiar with Pune or HMS incense, this scent will be like an old acquaintance. I like such vanilla based incense, though it can have its limitations - the vanilla tends to make the various fragrances smell too much the same, regardless of recipe tweaks; the sweetness can be cloying after a while; and the vanilla can somewhat dominate. If this was my first encounter, I would be delighted with this, but after several years of smelling vanilla based incense, I have started to take such scents for granted, so I find them less delightful than I once did. 

The scent on the burn is soft, pleasant, sweet, woody, gently woody with some faint resin. It's a decent accord, well done. It's more of a traditional incense scent than some of the modern scents that Yamuna does. Kind of mainstream, along the lines of incense sold in Pune and Vrindavan, so - for me as a jaded, long-term incense hunter - not quite so interesting and exciting as some of the other scents  I've tried from Yamuna - with less of the Lithuanian connection; though certainly attractive as a top end everyday incense.  

Available starting at €14 plus shipping from Yamuna's Incense in Lithuania. If ordering outside the EU, ask Yamuna to check custom regulations carefully, otherwise you'll have to pay a fine. 

Date: Oct 2026   Score:  33/50

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Yamuna's Incense

Yamuna's Incense Timeless Splendours

Yamuna's Incense in Kaunas, Lithuania's second largest city, is a recent start up - a marriage of Indian and Lithuanian cultures. Yamuna tells me that "Yamuna’s Incense is conceptualized in Lithuania, most of the fragrances are inspired and created by me and the incense is manufactured in India. We use some local ingredients, for instance Baltic amber oil, spruce resin, sage, thyme, etc". Yamuna's incense is well-made modern-aroma room-freshener incense, which sits well with me, and is part of a growing trend along with Smells Like Spells of Lithuania and  Oneironaut in London, of Europeans creating/ordering fragrances for incense made in India or Nepal.  

The sticks are smoothly hand rolled - at first sight they appear extruded because they are so even and consistent, though the twists from hand-rolling can be seen on the ends near the stick. There are little sparkles in the paste, such as are sometimes found on incense made in Pune, especially by Haridas Madhavdas (HMS). The scent on the stick is attractively volatile - rising boldly to greet and embrace. Old timber, sweet tobacco, frozen orange juice, stale pipe smoke, vintage claret, and a sense of sweet, manly outdoors. It's a compelling aroma. The blub says: "Smoky. Leathery. Enchanting.", and I find that acceptable. The profile is based on oud from Laos which is described as "smoky-sweet, with ... syrupy wood and dried fruit", which fits this cold-throw fragrance very well. 

The scent on the burn is gentle, well balanced, and beautifully fragrant. There's woods, and fruits, sweetness and some sharpness, so nothing cloys or irritates. The scents from the stick come together harmoniously and deliciously. There is something playful and delicious about a fragrance that is both sharp and sweet - like a well made lemonade. There is honey here, soaked into the wood. It's like orange blossom honey on fresh wholemeal bread. Its gorgeous. I love this. I truly do. 

Available starting at €14 plus shipping from Yamuna's Incense in Lithuania. If ordering outside the EU, ask Yamuna to check custom regulations carefully, otherwise you'll have to pay a fine. 

Date: Oct 2026   Score:  48/50

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Yamuna's Incense

Oud explored

Amayah of Delhi

Amayah is a brand name of Floria, a wellness and home-fragrance company founded in 2017 in New Delhi. The cones are loosely wrapped in brown paper and popped inside a simple cardboard box. There is minimal information, though I do note the wording says "Packed and Marketed by Floria", which suggests that the company doesn't make the cones themselves. They may be made in Delhi, or may be made anywhere in India. If you come upon them on Amazon or in your local incense shop, avoid them. Spend your money on something more worthwhile and of better value. 

Reviews

Amayah Eucalyptus Dhoop Cones (P)
Oct 2026 - Score: 19

  

Amayah Nagchampa Dhoop Cones (P)
Oct 2026 - Score: 17

Reviews: 2

High score: 19

Low score: 17

Average: 18

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Incense in India