I want to make one last post on Kasturi to talk about the possibility of Kasturi having originally been a plant based fragrance. There is a kasturi deer, and there is also a kasturi plant (known as ambrette or musk mallow). This kasturi plant, and its seeds, called as kasturi beeja, have been in use for thousands of years in Ayurveda and in attar making. Coincidentally both produce the exact same fragrance, with the main difference being the deer kasturi has an added repulsive fecal scent which is unpleasant to humans.

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Following up on the post where we touched on the topic of Kasturi (musk), one of the five famous fragrances often mentioned in the scriptures, alongside sandalwood (chandana), agarwood (aguru), saffron (kunkuma) and camphor (karpura), here we will demystify the fragrance for those who have never smelt it.

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Continuing from the theme of yesterday’s post on Ambergris, let us talk about another fragrant secretion used traditionally in some temples called as “civet oil” (also called as punugu in South India).

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Humans will touch filthy things if they think they are valuable. Ambergris passes through the intestines and is expelled as feces, yet people hold it freely with their hands because they think its valuable.

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