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Quick answer — The main types of agarbatti sold in India are masala sticks, which carry their scent in the paste; charcoal or "dipped" sticks, unscented blanks soaked in perfume; dhoop sticks, also sold as bambooless agarbatti, which have no bamboo core; and incense cones. Resin forms such as sambrani cups are close relatives that need charcoal to burn. India's new standard, IS 19412:2025, sorts agarbatti a third way, by how they are made: machine-made, hand-made and traditional masala. Burn time and smoke depend more on the product than on the type.
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Three ways to sort agarbatti, and why labels confuse them
"Masala", "charcoal" and "bambooless" are not three types on one list. They answer three different questions.
- By recipe: is the scent in the paste (masala) or added afterwards (dipped)? Is the base charcoal, wood powder or both?
- By form: is it a stick on a bamboo core, a stick without a core (dhoop or bambooless), a cone, or a resin that needs a hot coal?
- By method: IS 19412:2025 groups agarbatti as machine-made, hand-made or traditional masala.
One stick can be masala, bambooless and hand-made all at once. Keep the three questions apart and every label on the shelf becomes readable.
What are the main types of agarbatti?
The main types of agarbatti are masala sticks, dipped charcoal sticks, dipped wood-powder sticks, dhoop or bambooless sticks, and cones, with resin cups as a close relative. The table compares them on what they are made of, how they burn and how families tend to use them.
| Type | Base and core | Where the scent comes from | Typical burn time | Smoke | Ash and residue | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masala agarbatti | Bamboo core; wood powder, jigat and aromatic powders, sometimes with charcoal | Ground aromatics, resins and oils worked into the paste | Roughly 20–45 minutes for a standard stick; longer, thicker sticks can run about an hour | Varies with the recipe | The coating burns to ash; a bare bamboo stub remains | The daily lamp in many homes |
| Dipped charcoal agarbatti | Bamboo core; charcoal dust or sawdust with jigat | Perfume diluted in oil or a solvent, applied after drying | As above, set mainly by length | Varies widely by brand | Ash and a stub; the scent often fades as it burns | Everyday use; low-cost sticks are usually this kind |
| Dipped wood-powder stick | Bamboo core; wood powder or sawdust with a binder | A perfume dip | As above | Varies | Ash and a stub | Everyday use; often sold as charcoal-free |
| Dhoop stick, or bambooless agarbatti | No core; wood powders, herbs and resins, rolled or extruded | Mixed in; sometimes also dipped | About 15–30 minutes, by thickness | Often described as denser and heavier | No stub: the whole stick becomes ash, so the holder must catch all of it | Festival days and formal puja; homes that avoid burning bamboo |
| Incense cone (dhoop cone) | No core; paste pressed into a cone | Mixed in | Short; cones burn relatively quickly | Varies | The ash keeps the cone's shape on the plate | A quick fragrance; backflow cones on a special burner |
| Sambrani cup or resin on charcoal | Benzoin or other resin; self-lighting cups have charcoal built in | The resin itself | About 10–25 minutes | Dense | Charcoal ash and resin residue; the base stays very hot | Dusk, after cleaning the house, and other household customs |
Beauty Without Cruelty India, which has documented the trade, puts the range even more plainly: depending on method and ingredients, burning time runs "from a couple of minutes to hours". A type tells you how a stick was built. It does not fix how long it burns or how much smoke it gives.
What is masala agarbatti?
Masala agarbatti (मसाला अगरबत्ती) is a stick whose fragrance comes from solid aromatic ingredients ground into the paste and rolled onto the bamboo, rather than from a perfume dip.
The word masala here means a blend of ground materials, as it does in the kitchen. A masala paste typically holds wood powders such as sandalwood, aromatic resins, herbs and spices, sometimes honey, and jigat, the powdered bark of Litsea glutinosa that binds the paste to the stick. Because the scent is in the body of the coating, a masala stick tends to smell much the same from start to finish, where a dipped stick often fades.
Masala does not mean charcoal-free. The model recipe in a government project profile from the office of the Development Commissioner (MSME) is 40% white wood powder, 20% jigat, 20% charcoal and 20% aromatics and oils. If charcoal is the question you care about, our page on charcoal-free agarbatti and how to check it covers the label and the home tests.
What are champa and nag champa sticks?
Champa sticks are a family of masala agarbatti bound with halmaddi, the resin of the tree Ailanthus triphysa. Halmaddi is an earth-coloured liquid resin that hardens as it ages, which is why some makers add honey to keep it pliable, and why champa sticks can feel slightly soft. Karnataka's forest department had banned halmaddi extraction by the 1990s because crude tapping killed trees; in 2011 the Mangalore forest division leased 52,547 trees for tapping again.
Nag champa, which a Deccan Herald report names as the most famous of the champa group, pairs sandalwood with champak (Magnolia champaca) or frangipani, and recipes vary from maker to maker. Beauty Without Cruelty also names durbar as a masala style made, like champa, by blending several solid scented ingredients with jigat. Some makers go one step further and dip a finished masala stick briefly in perfume, which one incense maker calls "perfumed masala".
What is charcoal agarbatti, and what does "dipped" mean?
A charcoal agarbatti is a bamboo stick coated with an unscented paste of charcoal dust and jigat, dried as a "raw" or "blank" stick, and then dipped in or sprayed with diluted perfume. "Dipped" names the scenting step; the base can be charcoal or wood powder.
The blank comes first. Beauty Without Cruelty describes "punk sticks" coated with sawdust from Machilus hardwood, which is highly absorbent and holds fragrance well, and notes that charcoal is used to make similar absorbent blanks. Concentrated perfume is then diluted in oil or a solvent, and the dried blanks are dipped or sprayed and stood upright to dry. The full sequence, with the dilution ratios, is in how agarbatti is made in India.
Dipping explains a common experience: a cheap stick that smells strong in the box and faint by the time it is half burnt. Much of its scent sits near the surface.
What are "white batti" and "basebatti"?
These are trade names for dipped wood-powder sticks. As one incense maker describes them, a basebatti is a masala-style stick of wood powder and binder made without fragrance and then soaked in perfume. A white batti is a ready-made, machine-made light-brown blank, which the same maker says is often imported and then dipped in India. Raw-stick imports were large enough that, in 2019, India moved agarbatti imports from "Free" to "Restricted" at the request of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, which said it wanted to restrict imports of raw agarbatti.
What is dhoop, and is bambooless agarbatti the same thing?
Dhoop is incense without a bamboo core: a stick, cone or paste made wholly of the aromatic mixture. Most products sold as "bambooless agarbatti" are dhoop sticks under a newer name.
Dhoop is the older form. A government project profile describes agarbatti as "a development of Dhup", and Wikipedia's account of Indian incense dates the bamboo-core method to the late nineteenth century, when it largely replaced the rolled, extruded or shaped method that is still used for dhoop. In the 1900s stick-making became an organised industry in Bangalore. In Hindi the dhoop-type stick is often called धूपबत्ती (dhūpbattī), and the Sanskrit dhūpa names both incense and the act of offering it.
Because a dhoop stick has no core, it is made by pressing or extruding a thicker paste, and it burns down to nothing. The whole stick becomes ash, so it needs a plate or a holder that catches all of it rather than a hole that grips a bamboo end. Many dhoop sticks are heavier with resin, ghee or herbs than a bamboo-core stick, and households often keep them for festival days and formal puja.
Which is better for puja, agarbatti or dhoop?
No text we found ranks one above the other. Both serve the same step, dhupa, the offering of fragrant smoke. In panchopachara, the five-step puja, dhupa comes after gandha (fragrant paste) and pushpa (flowers) and before dipa (the lamp) and naivedya (food). Which form a family uses is custom and convenience; the steps of offering it are in how to light agarbatti in puja.
Why do some families avoid bamboo agarbatti?
Because of a popular belief, repeated on many websites, that burning bamboo is inauspicious. None of the pages we read cites a verse for it, and others argue that no scripture forbids it. We present it as a belief that some families keep. If yours does, a dhoop or bambooless stick lets you offer dhupa without burning bamboo; if it does not, there is no textual reason to change.
Does bambooless mean charcoal-free?
No. Bambooless describes the core and charcoal-free describes the paste. Some dhoop sticks contain charcoal or coconut-shell powder to help them burn, and self-lighting sambrani cups have charcoal built in. Check the two claims separately.
What are incense cones and backflow cones?
An incense cone is dhoop paste pressed into a small cone and dried. It is lit at the tip, burns down to its base, and is usually finished faster than a stick.
Wikipedia's account of incense says cones were developed in Japan in the 1800s and burn relatively quickly; in India they are sold alongside dhoop sticks, often in the same fragrances. They need a heatproof plate or a small dish of sand, because the glowing base sits directly on whatever is under it. India's 1992 tentative standard for agarbatti, IS 13582 (T):1992, left cones and logs out of its scope. The 2025 standard is titled "Incense Sticks (Agarbatti)", and the reports we read do not say whether cones fall inside it.
A backflow cone has a hollow channel running up through its middle. Placed on a matching burner in still air, its smoke flows downwards over the burner in a stream, which sellers explain as cooled smoke sinking through the channel. We found only retailers' descriptions of this, no independent study. It is a decorative modern form rather than a puja tradition, and it fails in a draught.
Are sambrani cups, loban and guggul dhoop types of agarbatti?
Not strictly. They are resins, which do not burn on their own: they melt and give off smoke only when something else supplies the heat, usually a charcoal disc or a cup with charcoal built in.
In India "sambrani" usually means benzoin resin from Styrax trees, and "loban", from the Arabic lubān, is used loosely for resin incense, both benzoin and frankincense. Our comparison of sambrani, dhoop, loban, camphor and agarbatti explains the vessels, the occasions and how to burn resin safely, so we do not repeat it here.
Resin also appears inside some dhoop sticks and cones sold as "guggul" or "loban" dhoop. Guggul is the gum resin of Commiphora wightii, which the IUCN lists as Critically Endangered because of over-tapping in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Mahabharata's account of the three classes of incense, in which guggul is named foremost among resins, is discussed in which agarbatti fragrance for which deity and day.
Machine-made vs hand-rolled agarbatti: what is the difference?
Hand-rolled agarbatti is coated by a person rolling paste onto bamboo on a wooden board; machine-made agarbatti is coated by an automatic or pedal-operated machine that presses paste onto the stick. Both are recognised by the new standard.
By hand, the paste is rolled onto sticks laid on slanting wooden boards, and the sticks are spread out to dry. An experienced home roller makes about 3,000 to 4,000 raw sticks a day, a figure that both Wikipedia and a 2019 News Minute report on Bengaluru rollers give. By machine, the work can be split into semi-automatic steps for applying paste, dipping and packing, or done end to end. Under the Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission of 2020, the government's press release put the output of one automatic machine at about 80 kg of agarbatti a day, run by four people.
What you may notice as a buyer:
- Uniformity. Machine-made sticks tend to be identical in thickness and length; one maker describes machine-made blanks as "perfectly uniform". Hand-rolled sticks vary a little from one to the next.
- Coating length. Both should leave a bare end to hold. The 1992 tentative standard capped the bare end at 20% of the stated length.
- Neither is better by rule. Quality depends on the paste, the drying and the perfume, not on whether a hand or a machine did the rolling.
Who rolls India's sticks, how the machines reached artisans, and what the work pays are covered in how agarbatti is made in India.
How does IS 19412:2025 classify agarbatti?
IS 19412:2025, India's first dedicated agarbatti standard, classifies incense sticks into three types: machine-made, hand-made and traditional masala.
The Bureau of Indian Standards' specification, "Incense Sticks (Agarbatti)", was released by the Consumer Affairs Minister around National Consumer Day, 24 December 2025. The standard sets requirements for raw materials, burning quality, fragrance performance and chemical parameters. It also bans eight substances, including the insecticides permethrin, cypermethrin and fipronil; the full list is in our page on how agarbatti is made.
| IS 19412 category | What it describes | Where the familiar types fit |
|---|---|---|
| Machine-made | Sticks coated by automatic or semi-automatic machines | Machine-coated blanks and machine-made masala sticks |
| Hand-made | Sticks rolled by hand on boards | Home-rolled raw sticks and hand-rolled masala |
| Traditional masala | Sticks made in the traditional masala way, with scent in the paste | Champa, durbar and similar styles |
Three points for buyers. First, products that conform can carry the BIS Standard Mark, but we found no order making the standard compulsory, so a stick without the mark has not necessarily failed it. Second, a box that claims the mark should be able to show a licence; "BIS certified" printed without one means nothing. Third, the standard does not sort sticks by fragrance or by charcoal. The background, from the 1992 tentative standard to the laboratories that drafted the new one, is in how agarbatti is made in India.
What other sticks will you see on the shelf?
Beyond the main types, shelves carry sticks sorted by purpose and by fragrance. Most are variations on the forms above, and a few are not puja incense at all.
- Mosquito-repellent sticks are a different product. IS 19412:2025 bars insecticides such as allethrin, permethrin and cypermethrin from incense sticks, so a stick sold to repel insects is not one to buy for the mandir. Read the pack.
- "Smokeless" and "low smoke" sticks make a claim that only measurement can support. In one 2011 study, a stick sold as smokeless gave 0.4 mg of fine particles per gram, against 44.5 mg for the highest of six brands. That was one product, not a category. Our guide to whether agarbatti smoke is harmful explains what the studies show.
- Sticks made from dried temple flowers are sold by several brands. Judge them by the same label checks as any other stick.
- Fragrance families are how many people actually shop: sandalwood, rose, saffron-and-sandalwood, and kasturi. Each has its own story. See our guides to chandan agarbatti, rose agarbatti, kesar chandan agarbatti and kasturi agarbatti. Kasturi sticks use a kasturi-type fragrance, a musk accord; natural deer musk comes from a protected animal and is not used.
Which type of agarbatti suits which use?
There is no textual rule; these are the patterns many households follow, offered as custom, not prescription.
- The daily lamp, morning and evening: a bamboo-core stick, masala or dipped, is what many families use. It needs only a holder and ordinary care.
- Festival days and a full puja: many families reach for dhoop, for its heavier scent.
- Homes that keep the no-bamboo custom: dhoop or bambooless sticks, or cones.
- Dusk, or after cleaning the house: in many South Indian homes, sambrani, burned on charcoal.
- Small flats and closed rooms: shorter sticks or one stick at a time, with a window open; the American Lung Association advises limiting how long and how often incense is burned.
- Rites for ancestors: the Vayu Purana, as indexed by Wisdom Library, names guggulu and turushka (olibanum) as incense for honouring the Pitrs. For the dates, see Pitru Paksha 2027.
Which fragrance to offer to which deity is a separate question, with its own mix of text and custom, and has its own guide. For the full daily sequence in which dhupa sits, see how to do puja at home.
How we checked these facts
We worked from the Divine Hindu agarbatti fact sheet of 3 November 2026, in which each claim carries a source and a reliability flag, and re-read the primary pages that would load. Where only one source, or only a manufacturer, supports a point, the text names it. Burn-time ranges are typical ranges, not our measurements.
- Making and composition: the DC-MSME project profile on agarbatti; Wikipedia on incense in India and on incense (cones, dhoop); Beauty Without Cruelty India on blanks, durbar and champa; Deccan Herald (2011) on halmaddi leases; and, as a manufacturer's view, one incense maker on basebatti and white batti.
- Standards: IS 13582 (T):1992; IS 19412:2025 as reported by Deccan Herald and KNN India.
- Government schemes and trade: PIB on the Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission (2020) and PIB on the 2019 import restriction (2022).
- Tradition and plants: Wikipedia on puja; Wisdom Library on dhupa; Wikipedia on Commiphora wightii; and, on the bamboo belief, Boldsky for it and Covai Post against.
- Smoke and ventilation: See and Balasubramanian (2011) and the American Lung Association.
What we could not confirm: whether IS 19412:2025 covers cones; the exact wording of its three category definitions; and any independent measurement of how long each type burns.
Related reading
Each type has a page of its own in this series. To check whether a stick contains charcoal, read charcoal-free agarbatti: what it means and how to check; for the rolling, perfuming and the new standard, how agarbatti is made in India; and for resins and camphor, our sambrani, dhoop, loban and camphor comparison. The names people use across India are gathered in agarbatti meaning in English and other languages. Once a stick has burned, agarbatti ash and choosing a holder covers stands, plates and dhoop daans, and the daily pooja essentials guide lists what else the mandir needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the different types of agarbatti?
The main types are masala sticks, with scent in the paste; dipped sticks, unscented charcoal or wood-powder blanks soaked in perfume; dhoop or bambooless sticks, with no bamboo core; and cones. IS 19412:2025 also groups agarbatti as machine-made, hand-made or traditional masala.
What is the difference between agarbatti and dhoop?
An agarbatti has a bamboo core coated with paste; dhoop is made wholly of the aromatic mixture, as a stick, cone or paste, with no core. Dhoop is the older form, and it burns down completely, so its holder must catch all the ash.
What is masala agarbatti?
Masala agarbatti is a stick whose fragrance comes from ground aromatic solids, such as wood powders, resins and herbs, mixed into the paste and rolled onto bamboo. It is not always charcoal-free: a government model recipe for masala sticks includes 20% charcoal.
What is bambooless agarbatti?
Bambooless agarbatti is incense shaped wholly from the aromatic paste, with no bamboo stick inside. Most bambooless sticks are dhoop sticks under a newer name. Bambooless does not mean charcoal-free, so check the ingredient list for that separately.
Which is better for puja, agarbatti or dhoop?
No text we found ranks one above the other. Both serve dhupa, the incense offering that comes after flowers and before the lamp in the five-step puja. Many families use agarbatti daily and dhoop on festival days, as a matter of custom.
What is the difference between machine-made and hand-made agarbatti?
Hand-made sticks are rolled by a person on a wooden board; machine-made sticks are coated by an automatic or pedal-operated machine. Machine sticks tend to be more uniform. IS 19412:2025 recognises both, and quality depends on the paste and drying, not the method.
What types of agarbatti does IS 19412:2025 recognise?
Three: machine-made, hand-made and traditional masala. The standard also sets requirements for raw materials, burning and fragrance, and bans eight substances, including the insecticides permethrin, cypermethrin and fipronil. It does not classify sticks by fragrance or by charcoal content.
What is a dipped or charcoal agarbatti?
It is an unscented raw stick, coated with charcoal dust or sawdust and jigat, that is dipped in or sprayed with perfume diluted in oil or a solvent after drying. Dipped sticks often smell strongest in the packet and fade as they burn.
How long does an agarbatti burn?
A standard bamboo-core stick usually burns for roughly 20 to 45 minutes, and longer, thicker sticks can run about an hour. Dhoop sticks commonly take 15 to 30 minutes and cones less. Length and thickness matter more than type, so check the pack.
Are incense cones the same as dhoop?
Cones are a form of dhoop: the same coreless paste, pressed into a cone instead of a stick. They burn relatively quickly and need a heatproof plate. India's 1992 tentative standard left cones out of its scope, and it is unclear whether the 2025 standard covers them.
Choosing a type for your home mandir
For most homes the choice comes down to three questions: core or no core, scent in the paste or dipped, and which fragrance. Answer those, then burn whatever you choose in a proper holder, with a window open, and never leave it unattended.
Divine Hindu Agarbatti is made in India and is charcoal-free, and it burns with less smoke than charcoal-dipped sticks. It is rolled by an NGO production unit under a Government-backed programme. Its bamboo-core sticks come in seven fragrances, among them Natural Kesar Chandan, Rudraksha and Ananda, which are traditionally used at the daily lamp; all seven are in our agarbatti collection.
This page describes how agarbatti types are made and used; it makes no health claim for any product, ours included. Burn times are typical ranges and smoke descriptions are not measurements. For questions of ritual, follow your family's custom and your purohit.
