| Mysore Sandalwood Oil | |
|---|---|
| Geographical indication | |
 A phial of Mysore Sandalwood Oil | |
| Type | perfumed oil extract |
| Area | Mysore district |
| Country | India |
| Registered | 2005 |
| Official website | http://ipindia.nic.in |
Mysore Sandalwood Oil is a trademarked perfume oil extracted from the Santalum album variety of sandalwood tree (also known as a "royal tree") in the Mysore district of Karnataka, India. The tree species is said to be one of the best varieties in the world. [1] [2] [3]
Initially, sandalwood oil was extracted in India by crude methods. Before World War I, sandalwood from the Mysore district was distilled in Germany and sold there. However, when World War I broke out in 1914, this route of extraction had to be closed down, resulting in a loss of revenue to the exchequer. Due to this closure to the market, the Maharajah of Mysore appointed Alfred Chatterton, the Director of Industries in Mysore to develop the distillation of the oil. Chatterton enlisted the help of Professors J. J. Sudborough and H. E. Watson who extracted the first sample of sandalwood oil in India at the Indian Institute of Science. [4] In 1916–17, the sandalwood oil distillery was established in Mysore by the then Mysore government (now the Karnataka government) to distil oil from sandalwood. [3] In 1977, the Mysore district had about 85,000 sandalwood trees, and production reported during 1985-86 was about 20,000 kilograms (44,000 lb) of raw sandalwood. To preserve its importance to the economy, according to the Government Gazetteer, the government introduced special laws and regulations. In the erstwhile princely state of Mysore (part of Karnataka since independence), sandal was a "royal tree", with the state government controlling it. [5]
This oil has been registered for protection under the geographical indication of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. In 2006, it was listed as "Mysore Sandalwood Oil" under the GI Act 1999 of the Government of India, with registration confirmed by the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks. [6]
The heartwood or the trunk of the sandalwood tree and also its roots are used in the oil extraction process. [1] [5]
The oil is used in the manufacture of soaps, incense, scents, and cosmetics; it also has several uses in religious rites, skin and hair therapeutic treatments, and in pharmaceuticals. There are many varieties of sandalwood oil, and Mysore sandalwood oil was considered one of the best in 1938. [1] [7] The sandalwood oil produced in Mysore accounted for 70% of the world's sandalwood production in 1996. [8] It is used as a "blender fixative" in the blending of many popular perfumes in the world. [8] in 1942 it was assessed as having an assured minimum of 90% santalol, and of comparable standard to any sandalwood oil produced elsewhere. [9]
According to Swami Vivekananda, Mysore was identified with sandalwood, which was integral to the religious, social and ceremonial life of the east. Vivekananda said "the lingering perfume of this wood may be truly said to have made its conquest of the world". [10]
The heartwood of the tree, which is not affected by insects, has been used to fashion furniture and temple structures in India. Its oil has been considered an aphrodisiac, as its aroma has similarity with androsterone, a male hormone. [11] In Ayurvedic medicine, sandalwood is used to combat urinary tract infections, prostate dysfunction, diarrhea, earache, and lung infections. Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine use it to treat cholera, gonorrhea, and abdominal pain. [11]
Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sandalwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries. Consequently, some species of these slow-growing trees have suffered over-harvesting in the past.
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term "essential" used here does not mean indispensable or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a living organism.
Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood,gharuwood or the Wood of Gods, most commonly referred to as oud or oudh, is a fragrant, dark and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small hand carvings. It is formed in the heartwood of Aquilaria trees after they become infected with a type of Phialophora mold, P. parasitica. The tree defensively secretes a resin to combat the fungal infestation. Prior to becoming infected, the heartwood is mostly lacking in scent, and is relatively light and pale in coloration. However, as the infection advances, and the tree produces its fragrant resin as a final option of defense, the heartwood becomes very dense, dark, and saturated with resin. This product is harvested, and most famously referred to in cosmetics under the scent names of oud, oodh or aguru; however, it is also called aloes, agar, as well as gaharu or jinko. With thousands of years of known use, and valued across Christian, Hindu and Muslim communities, oud is prized in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures for its distinctive fragrance, utilized in colognes, incense and perfumes.
Marayur or Marayoor is a town in Devikulam taluk of Idukki district in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. It is located 42 kilometers north of Munnar on SH 17 connecting Munnar with Udumalpet, Tamil Nadu. Marayur is situated at around 1,600 metres above mean sea level and is the only place in Kerala that has natural sandalwood forests. Ancient dolmens and rock paintings in Marayur date back to the Stone Age. In 1991 Marayur had a population of 9,590.
India is the world's main incense producing country, and is a major exporter to other countries. In India, incense sticks, called Agarbatti (Agar: from Dravidian probably Tamil அகில், அகிர் ., Sanskrit varti, meaning "stick" An older term "Dhūpavarti" is more commonly used in ancient and medieval texts which encompasses various types of stick incense recipes. Incense is part of the cottage industry in India and important part of many religions in the region since ancient times. The method of incense making with a bamboo stick as a core originated in India at the end of the 19th century, largely replacing the rolled, extruded or shaped method which is still used in India for dhoop.
Santalum album, or Indian sandalwood, is a small tropical tree, and the traditional source of sandalwood oil. It is native to southern India and Southeast Asia. It is considered sacred in some religions like Hinduism, and some cultures place great significance on its fragrant qualities. However, the high value of the species has caused over-exploitation, to the point where the wild population is vulnerable to extinction. Indian sandalwood still commands high prices for its essential oil owing to its high alpha santalol content, but due to lack of sizable trees it is no longer used for fine woodworking as before. The plant is long-lived, but harvest is only viable after many years.
Sargur, is a small town located about 80 km from the town of Chamarajanagar And a Taluk of Mysore district of Karnataka, India. H D Kote (Heggadadevanakote) is about 12 km north of Sargur. It is 55 km from the city of Mysore. Bangalore International Airport is 200 km away. To be more elaborate, Sargur is 33.8 km from Nanjangud town (Karnataka), 35.1 km from Gundlupet town (Karnataka), 137.8 km from Udagamandalam town (Ooty) Valley and 38.8 km from Hunsur town (Karnataka).
Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys and dolls that are manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka state, India. This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication (GI) under the World Trade Organization, administered by the Government of Karnataka. As a result of the popularity of these toys, Channapatna is known as the Gombegala Ooru (toy-town) of Karnataka. Traditionally, the work involved lacquering the wood of the Wrightia tinctoria tree, colloquially called Aale mara (ivory-wood).
Mysore Sandal Soap is a brand of soap manufactured by the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), a company owned by the government of Karnataka in India. This soap has been manufactured since 1916, when Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, the king of Mysore, set up the Government Soap Factory in Bangalore. The main motivation for setting up the factory was the excessive sandalwood reserves that the Mysore Kingdom had, which could not be exported to Europe because of the First World War. In 1980, KSDL was incorporated as a company by merging the Government Soap Factory with the sandalwood oil factories at Shimoga and Mysore. Mysore Sandal Soap is the only soap in the world made from 100% pure sandalwood oil. KSDL owns a proprietary geographical indication tag on the soap, which gives it intellectual property rights to use the brand name, to ensure quality, and to prevent piracy and unauthorised use by other manufacturers. In 2006, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian cricketer was selected as the first brand ambassador of the Mysore Sandal Soap.
Attar, also known as ittar, is an essential oil derived from botanical or other natural sources. Most commonly these oils are extracted via hydrodistillation or steam distillation. The Persian physician Ibn Sina was first to derive the attar of flowers from distillation. Attar can also be expressed by chemical means but generally natural perfumes which qualify as attars are distilled with water. The oils are generally distilled into a wood base such as sandalwood and then aged. The aging period can last from one to ten years depending on the botanicals used and the results desired. Technically attars are distillates of flowers, herbs, spices and other natural materials such as baked soil over sandalwood oil/liquid paraffins using hydrodistillation technique involving a still and receiving vessel. These techniques are still in use today at Kannauj in India.
Jasmine is considered the queen of flowers and is called the "Belle of India" or the "Queen of fragrance" as it is exquisitely scented to soothe and refresh. In different parts of India it is called by different names—Mogra, Motia, Chameli, Malli puvvu, Jaati, Mulla, Mallige, Juhi, Mogra or Moonlight in the grove. It is reported that there are 300 varieties of jasmine. It is also stated that jasmine crossed the seas—from Asia to Europe, landing first along the Mediterranean Sea, conquering Greece and Turkey, reaching Western Europe through Spain, then France and Italy and finally landing in England in the latter part of the 17th century..
Sandalwood oil is an essential oil obtained from the steam distillation of chips and billets cut from the heartwood of various species of sandalwood trees, mainly Santalum album and Santalum spicatum.
Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) is an Indian company, owned by the Government of Karnataka, that manufacturers personal care products including Mysore Sandal Soap. It was founded as Government Sandalwood Oil Factory in 1916 by Maharaja Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV and M. Visvesvaraya for extracting and exporting sandalwood oil. It launched Mysore Sandal Soap in 1918, and has since manufactured soaps and cosmetics products. The company became a public sector enterprise in 1980 and was renamed as KSDL.
Alasinga Perumal was a propagator of Vedanta and an ardent follower of Swami Vivekananda. Born in an orthodox Vaishnavite family at Chikkamagalur of Mysore, he took his education in Madras. After obtaining a B.A. degree in science, he started his career as a school teacher.
Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam is a development scholar, author, public policy advocate, leadership trainer known for his pioneering development work with rural and tribal people in Saragur and Heggadadevana kote Taluks of Mysuru in Karnataka, India. He founded Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), a development organization based in Saragur when he was 19. He is also the Founder and Chairman of the Grassroots Research And Advocacy Movement (GRAAM), a public policy think tank based out of Mysuru. After spending 26 years in development work among rural and tribal people, he pursued academic degrees in leadership, organisational development and public policy. He was the Frank T Rhodes professor at Cornell University between 2012 and 2014, and continues to hold academic positions in Cornell and other universities. His books 'Voices from the Grassroots' and 'I, the citizen' are compilation of narratives and reflections of a development expert and are now globally acclaimed. His book I, the citizen was released in 2015 by the Prime Minister's office.
Mysore Agarbathi is a variety of incense sticks manufactured at Mysore using locally grown ingredients which was found only in state of Karnataka before. This incense has been awarded Geographical Indication tag from the Government of India in 2005 due to its historic background and remote availability of material used.
Mysore Rosewood Inlay covers a range of techniques used by artisans in around the area of Mysore in sculpture and the decorative for inserting pieces of contrasting, often coloured materials like ivory shells, mother-of-pearl, horn and sandalwood into depressions in a rosewood object to form ornament or pictures that normally are flush with the matrix. These artifacts are manufactured in around the region of Mysore, these artifacts have been awarded Geographical Indication tag from the Government of India in 2005 due to its historic representation as an artifact depicting the region and the design and style used by the local artisans
Ganjam Kewda is a male flower of the fragrant screwpine plant used for extracting kewda oil in India. A native to the tropics, it is registered under the Geographical Indications (GI) of Goods Act by Government of India. Kewda scent is produced in Chhatrapur, Brahmapur, Gopalpur and Jagannathpur in district of Ganjam, Odisha. Although kewda plants can be found through most of India, 90% of the commercial production of the kewda flower is estimated to occur in the Odisha state.
Sosale Garalapury Sastry was an Indian industrial chemist known for his work on the manufacture of sandalwood soap through the establishment of the Mysore soap factory in Bangalore. This earned him the nickname of Soap Sastry. He also served as a director of industries and commerce in Mysore State.
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