Mitti Dhoop Sticks

The smell of the first rain hitting dry ground. Every Indian knows it and almost nobody can buy it.

These are hand-rolled dhoop sticks blended to smell of wet earth — no flowers, no sandalwood, nothing sweet. Just mitti. It is an unusual thing to burn at a mandir and the reason people keep reordering it: the room ends up smelling like a courtyard in June rather than like incense.

Use it for

• Evening aarti, when the usual floral agarbatti has stopped registering
• Meditation and reading — earthy scents settle a room faster than sweet ones
• Flats with no balcony, where you miss the smell of rain on soil entirely
• Gifting to someone who already owns every chandan pack going

Good to know

• 100g in an airtight jar, so the fragrance doesn't leak into the cupboard
• Hand-rolled and slow-burning with very little smoke
• Bamboo-free — what you smell is the dhoop, not a burning stick
• Use a dhoop stand or a steel plate; these are thicker than agarbatti