Namaste India Arruda Incense Sticks carry a dark, musky, earthy masala fragrance, each stick burning for approximately thirty to forty-five minutes.
Arruda is worth translating, because most people meeting the name will not recognize it. It is the Portuguese word for rue, a bitter Mediterranean herb that traveled with Iberian settlers to Brazil and took root there in folk practice — kept as a plant by the door, carried in a pocket, burned in a house.
The fragrance is correspondingly unusual. Rue itself is sharp, bitter and green, and while the blend rounds that off with a musky depth it keeps some of the edge underneath. The result is one of the few genuinely dark fragrances in the Namaste range, with none of the brightness a floral or a citrus brings.
What arruda is used for in that folk practice is protection, abundance and the keeping-away of ill will. We set it out because it is why the product exists under this name, and claim nothing as a result of burning it — those are beliefs held within a living practice rather than effects of smoke. Browse the range in our Namaste India collection.
As an everyday fragrance it suits people who find most incense too sweet. Dark and musky is an acquired taste and this makes no attempt to be otherwise, which is a more honest position than most themed blends take.
Thirty to forty-five minutes is a long burn and a dark fragrance uses it well. No holder comes in the pack, so set out a fire-safe holder before lighting, on a stable surface, and burn in a well-ventilated room. More earthy options sit in our Incense collection.