Nirvana Nag Champa - 15 grams

Nag Champa is a fragrance family, not a single brand: a paste of sandalwood, tree resin and the champa flower (Magnolia champaca), hand-rolled around a bamboo stick. The scent has long been linked to temples and monasteries in South India, where the champa flower served as an offering flower for centuries before it found its way into incense form and spread worldwide. Nirvana follows that tradition with a full, warm scent meant for meditation and relaxation.

The original recipe used halmaddi, a sticky resin from the Ailanthus malabarica tree that retains moisture and makes the sticks smoulder slowly. As halmaddi has become scarcer and more expensive, most current producers, including this line, now work with other tree resins as a binder. The core of sandalwood and champa flower remains just as recognisable; some Nag Champa houses add extra notes such as cardamom or vanilla, but the champa flower is the common thread across every variant.

Use

Place the stick upright in an incense holder with an ash catcher. Light the tip, let it burn briefly and blow out the flame; the stick will then keep smouldering and gradually release its scent. Ventilate the room and set the holder on a heat-resistant surface, away from flammable material.

Storage

Store the sticks in the sealed pack, dry and out of direct sunlight. Moisture and heat make the resin fade faster and cause the stick to burn unevenly.

Alongside Nirvana, Dutch-Smart also carries Mystic Yoga, Natural and the Satya line of incense, each with its own scent nuance within the same tradition.