Interesting facts about Agarwood

 

Lord Buddha was to have said that the smell of agarwood burning "is the scent of Nirvana". It is also a favorite of Lord Krishna, being mentioned throughout the oldest written texts - the Sanskrit Vedas. 

 
Agarwood has also been used in nearly every religious tradition around the world and revered for thousands of years by many cultures as the most treasured incense ingredient. It was agarwood and Myrrh that was burned at Jesus' burial ceremony.

 
Ayurvedic, Arabic, Sufi, Unanai, Tibetan and Chinese physicians have all used agarwood in their practice to treat various diseases including mental illness.

 
The Indian poet Kalidasa once wrote: "Beautiful ladies, preparing themselves for the feast of pleasures, cleanse themselves with the yellow powder of sandal, clear and pure, freshen their breasts with pleasant aromas, and suspend their dark hair in the smoke of burning agarwood." 

 
King Louis XIV of France had his shirts washed in rose water in which agarwood had been previously boiled. 

 
Samurai warriors scented their armour with agarwood smoke for luck before going to battle.

 
Egyptians used agarwood to embalm and anoint the dead.

 
This is the legendary "tree from the garden of Eden" where Adam and Eve were only allowed to take cuttings from the agarwood tree. 

 
"Gold is just dust when still in the ground, and oud, in its country of origin, is just another kind of firewood." Eighth-century Egyptian poet Muhammad Ibn Idris al-Shafi'I