Himalayan Cedar Incense - 15 Sticks Tube

Cedrus deodara - the Himalayan cedar or deodar - is one of the four true cedars (genus Cedrus) and the dominant evergreen across the wider Himalayan belt from Afghanistan and Kashmir through Nepal and into northwestern India. The species reaches heights of forty to fifty metres in mature stands; the heartwood is highly resinous, naturally rot-resistant, and aromatic in a way that few other woods match. The Sanskrit-derived English name deodar (from devadāru, "wood of the gods" in literal etymology) reflects the tree's prominence in regional culture - across the Himalayan landscape rather than in any specific religious context.

The Stupa workshop's Himalayan Cedar blend uses ground deodar heartwood as the primary aromatic, hand-rolled into bamboo-less sticks. The high resin content of the wood means the sticks burn with a noticeably forest-resinous register; the aromatic chemistry features α-cedrol and other terpenes that give cedar its characteristic dry-evergreen-with-soft-balsam character.

Character on the burn. The blend opens dry and resinous in the first minutes, with a clearly foresty note. The middle minutes settle into warm balsam with the characteristic cedar wood-grain register. The closing minutes return to dry, slightly woody-sweet finish. Less smoky than juniper, less floral than sandalwood, more upright in register.

1. Take a stick from the tube.
2. Hold the tip to a flame for 5–10 seconds until it catches.
3. Blow out the flame - the stick smoulders.
4. Place the stick in the included handcrafted holder on a heat-safe surface.
5. The stick burns for approximately 30 minutes.
6. Allow the holder to cool before handling.

Burn in a well-ventilated room. The bamboo-less sticks are slightly more fragile than bamboo-cored sticks; handle gently. Store the tube in a cool, dry place.

• Botanical: Cedrus deodara · the deodar / Himalayan cedar
• Genus context: One of the four true cedars (Cedrus); dominant Himalayan evergreen
• Format: Bamboo-less · handcrafted · 10cm sticks
• Quantity: 15 sticks per tube
• Burn time: ~30 minutes per stick
• Workshop: Stupa · Kathmandu, Nepal
• Packaging: Lokta paper · with small handcrafted holder
• Character: Dry resinous opening · warm balsam middle · dry-sweet finish
• Storage: Cool, dry place · away from direct light

The Himalayan cedar is the regional tree of the Kathmandu Valley's wider Himalayan setting - the deodar's natural range covers the Stupa workshop's home territory and the source of the heartwood used in the blend. The deodar should not be confused with American cedars such as Juniperus virginiana ("eastern red cedar") or Cedrela odorata (the Mexican Burseraceae sometimes sold as cedar but botanically unrelated to the Cedrus genus) - these are different trees in different families with different aromatic chemistry. Cedrus deodara is one of the four true cedars; the other three (C. atlantica from the Atlas mountains, C. libani from the eastern Mediterranean, C. brevifolia from Cyprus) share the genus and approximate aromatic character but each has its own terroir signature.

The Devdar / Himalayan Cedar pair within the Stupa range. This Himalayan Cedar tube and the Devdar tube (product 10) both centre on Cedrus deodara - the species shared, but the workshop presents them as distinct blends with different secondary materials and proportions. Households exploring the Stupa range generally take both tubes side-by-side to compare the workshop's two interpretations of the same source material. The two recipes share their primary species and differ in their secondary materials.