Mysore Agarbathi: The Smoke That Made Mysuru Famous
A Maharaja's patronage, a ₹4,000 start in 1948, and today billions of sticks a year from Mysuru to 75+ countries. A curious young learner who lights one every morning asks how a humble stick became a global business. A wise mentor who grew up with the smell of the incense lanes explains.
curious young learner, lights an agarbathi every morning
wise mentor, grew up with the smell of the incense lanes
THE PASTFrom "oodabathi" to a Mysuru brand
The king who sold incense to the world
ZappyEvery pooja room in India smells of agarbathi. When did Mysuru get into it?
Prof. BoltOver a hundred years ago. Locals called them oodabathi, "sticks that blow fumes". In the early 1900s it became an organised industry around Bengaluru and Mysuru.
Royal backing
The Maharaja of Mysore supported making and promoting the sticks. After they won a certificate of merit at the Wembley exhibition in London, the kingdom handed them to foreign visitors as gifts, to push exports.
WHOOSH!
Karnataka's forests were rich in two key ingredients: sandalwood, and halmaddi, a sticky grey resin from the Ailanthus tree.
1948: a ₹4,000 start
Mysuru, the year after Independence
A young man named N. Ranga Rao, who lost his father as a boy, had been making agarbathis at home with his grandmother. Buy raw material in the morning, make sticks, sell them, use the money for the next day.
In 1948 he set up shop in Mysuru with about ₹4,000. By 1958 sales were close to ₹10 lakh a year.
ZappyWhy name an incense brand after a cycle?
Prof. BoltSmart marketing. The business began in 1948; the Cycle brand came in 1950. A cycle meant freedom, and it's called a "cycle" in every Indian language. One word, the whole country understood it.
He treated a loose, unbranded product as a brand, with his own fragrance lab and packaging. That idea built Mysuru's biggest incense name. Today his grandson, Arjun Ranga, runs it as the third generation.
A smell with a legal address
2005: the GI tag
It was among the very first products in India to get a Geographical Indication (GI) tag, in the same early batch as Mysore Silk. The application came from the national agarbathi makers' association.
The tag covers agarbathi made across Karnataka, the old Mysore State, not just Mysuru city.
ZappyWhat does a GI tag actually do?
Prof. BoltIt ties a name to a place, like Darjeeling tea. The reason given: its history, and materials from the region's forests, like sandalwood and halmaddi.
HOW IT WORKSFrom bamboo to your pooja room
Anatomy of one stick
The supply line
Two big families
Dipped sticks: a dried charcoal-coated stick soaked in fragrance oil. Cheaper, and most common in shops.
Masala sticks: a thick paste of herbs, resins and sandalwood rolled onto the bamboo, then dried. The famous Nag Champa, made in Bengaluru since the 1960s, uses grey, sticky halmaddi resin. That's why it feels slightly soft.
ZappySo the smell is just the last step?
Prof. BoltThe smell is the brand. The stick is the delivery van. Some makers, like the Mysuru firm, create hundreds of fragrances in their own labs; many others buy ready-made ones.
The China and Vietnam twist
What went wrong
In 2011 import duty on raw sticks was cut from 30% to 10%. Cheap raw agarbathis poured in from China and Vietnam.
Raw-agarbathi imports went from about ₹31 crore (2009) to ₹546 crore (2019), per KVIC.
The fix, in two steps
31 Aug 2019: import of raw agarbathi put in the "restricted" list.
Makers then imported plain bamboo sticks instead: ₹210 crore → ₹370 crore in one year.
June 2020: duty on bamboo sticks raised from 10% to 25%.
PLOT TWIST!
ZappyIndia grows tons of bamboo. Why import sticks at all?
Prof. BoltImporters say much Indian bamboo is too fibrous and jams the machines. The right variety grows mostly in the North-East, far from Karnataka's factories.
THE PRESENTA ₹8,000-crore daily habit
The size of the smoke
Retail value of India's agarbathi market, with 82% of homes using it (industry estimate, July 2025). Some estimates go to ₹10,000–12,000 crore.
exported every year to about 125 countries. The USA is the biggest buyer.
Nigeria burns the most incense per person, says Mysuru's biggest maker.
Karnataka's share
of India's agarbathi manufacturing happens in Karnataka, mainly around Bengaluru and Mysuru.
Half of India's agarbathi, and most of its exports, come from one state: ours.
From Mysuru, 12 billion sticks
The 1948 start-up, today (company figures, Sept 2026)
sticks a year across its manufacturing network, sold through about 5,000 distributors and 5 lakh shops in India, and in 75+ countries.
Beyond the stick
- In April 2026 it took a majority stake in an online pooja-items brand, chasing the whole "devotional basket".
- It collects flowers offered at Mysuru temples and turns them into agarbathis.
Zappy12 billion a year! How many is that a day?
Prof. BoltAbout 3.3 crore sticks every day. Line them up and they'd stretch round the Earth more than once a week.
THE DEEP DIVEThe research behind the smoke
India vs China, the incense league
Top exporters of incense and similar products, 2022 (OEC trade data)
| Country | Exports | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| China | $218 million | Biggest overall, includes joss sticks and coils |
| India | $138 million | No. 2, strongest in agarbathi itself |
| UAE | $36 million | Mostly bakhoor and re-exports |
| Vietnam | $24 million | Also a big supplier of raw bamboo sticks |
ZappySo we're second in a product we invented?
Prof. BoltSecond in this wider trade group. In masala-style agarbathi, Indian makers lead. The industry's goal is to make India the world's incense hub.
The Karnataka engine
Three numbers
- 60%+ of India's agarbathi makers are in Karnataka (2019 report).
- ~95% of agarbathi exporters are based in Karnataka, says the industry body's past president (2020).
- The national makers' association started in 1949, and its big trade expo is held in Bengaluru.
ZappyAnd the sandalwood that made it famous?
Prof. BoltMuch scarcer now. Most sticks today use other fragrances. That story deserves its own episode, and Mysuru will get one soon.
Prof. Bolt's verdict (opinion)
What Mysuru got right
It turned a smell into a brand, a brand into exports, and kept the headquarters at home. Few Indian consumer products travel this far from one small city.
The weak link
Raw materials. The right bamboo and the old forest resins are increasingly imported or scarce. A fragrance capital needs its own supply line.
My read: the next win isn't just more sticks. It's home-grown bamboo, premium natural fragrances, and taking the Mysore name to many more countries.
So what should Zappy do?
Notice what you burn
- 🌿 Try a masala stick and a dipped stick side by side; you'll smell the difference.
- 🔥 Read the pack: the flower or resin named is the fragrance, the bamboo is just the carrier.
When you buy
- 🏷️ Check where it's made. A Karnataka-made packet supports local jobs.
- 🎁 A box of Mysore agarbathi makes a good gift for friends abroad, just like the Maharaja's guests got.
If you visit Mysuru
Look for the "Mysore Agarbathi" name. It's a GI-tagged product, in the same club as Mysore Silk and Mysore Sandal Soap.
Fridge-door cheat sheet
The story
- 🏰 Maharaja-backed "oodabathi", prized at Wembley.
- 🚲 1948: a ₹4,000 Mysuru start; the Cycle brand in 1950.
- 🏷️ 2005: GI tag for Mysore Agarbathi, covering all of Karnataka.
Deep dive
- 💰 ₹8,000 cr market; ~₹1,000 cr exports; US top buyer.
- 📍 ~50% made in Karnataka.
- 🚢 Imports went 2% → 80%, then were curbed in 2019–20.
Your move
- 🌿 Try masala vs dipped.
- 🏷️ Read where it's made.
- 🎁 Gift the Mysore name.
Zappy and Prof. Bolt are made-up characters; the facts are real. Sources: Wikipedia and KSTDC (oodabathi, Maharaja, Wembley, 2005 GI tag); IP India GI registry; Business Today (22 Oct 2022) and YourStory (1948 start, ₹4,000, 1958 sales); afaqs (name "Cycle", Nigeria); impactonnet (8 Sept 2026: 12 billion sticks, 5,000 distributors, 5 lakh outlets, 75+ countries; Apr 2026 Satvik stake); The Week (18 Jul 2025: ₹8,000 cr, 82%, ~₹1,000 cr exports, 125 countries, Karnataka ~50%, AIAMA 1949); Civil Society (2020: 95% of exporters in Karnataka); The Caravan (2019: 60%+ of makers in Karnataka); KVIC via PSU Watch, GKToday, Krishi Jagran (2009–2020 import figures and duties); Sugandh India (bamboo suitability); OEC (2022 exports). Figures rounded.