Tibetan Incense

Tibetan Incense Made from all natural ingredients, with no harmful glues or carcinogens, there are hundreds of different types of incense that have been used by the monks and people for hundreds of years. Compared to incense from other places in the world, Tibetan incense is unique. It is made by hand, using only pure herbs, spices and flowers, and it does not contain a central stick of bamboo to hold it together.

Tibetan incense is made up of many different types of herbs, spices and flowers, and can contain as many as 28 different ingredients. The main ingredient of Tibetan incense is wood. The wood is cut into small pieces and then ground into a fine powder. The other required ingredients are then added and the mixture is put into a container and left to dry.

The main ingredients found in most incense are: sandalwood, agar wood, pine or cedar; myrrh, amber, frankincense, snow lotus herb, hibiscus, saffron, red orpine, clove, borneol and Chinese Caterpillar Fungus. The incense always contains one of the types of wood, and many other ingredients. Charcoal powder is sometimes added, as is makko powder, made from the bark of the tabu-no-ki tree, which helps to bind the powders together, with a little water. With the mixture bound together, it is extruded into strips by hand – although they would traditionally use a bulls horn drilled with holes – and left to dry. The incense “paste” is sometimes formed into characters from the Tibetan alphabet, or complex, maze-like shapes, that burn in patterns and are believed to bring good fortune.