Hand-Made in Nepal (Eyes Of The Lord Buddha): Pancha Buddha, Mandala, Kamasutra, Hari OM
These three packs I ordered at the beginning of last year (2025) from the Dutch online retailer Spiru, who now only ship domestically and to Belgium.
My order was mainly to restock my supply of Hari OM, which I’d been enthusiastic about. (Unfortunately the newly bought packs don’t smell anything like the first one.) I also felt like exploring this brand a bit further …
It seems Spiru no longer sells this brand.
Back then I paid €1.99 per pack; if I recall correctly, they were discounted.
The sticks of all varieties are 8″ (about 20cm) long and burn for about half an hour. Each pack contains 15 sticks.
Pancha Buddha
The sticks are extruded. The cold throw is piercing, dry and indolic.
Lit, the indolic smell is even more penetrating; it’s reminiscent of toilet cleaner along with the toilet that needs cleaning. Beyond that, I notice woodiness and a dry, chalky note.
Pancha Buddha does nothing for me at all, the smell is simply obtrusive and unpleasant.
Mandala
Mandala are hand-rolled sticks with a decently thick incense dough coating.
The raw smell is interesting: only slightly indolic but very musky, animalic, with an association to men’s sweat.
Mandala is one of the rare examples of an incense stick where I like the cold throw better than the scent when burning.
At first, the smell reminds me of Kamini – Goddess, as both are musky and have a certain bitter note that’s interesting, but not quite my thing. Mandala, though, comes across as a good deal tamer than Goddess.
Of the intriguing sweat note, I only smell a faint hint.
The scent is sweet and powdery-soft, with a certain woodiness, which mixes interestingly with the bitter note.
Kamasutra
These sticks are rather thinly hand-rolled.
The raw smell is floral, a bit like jasmine or other white blossoms; slightly indolic, a bit powdery, musky and a little soapy.
The aroma of the burning sticks is dominated by a heavy, creamy sweetness. The florality from the cold throw only remains subdued. Alongside that I smell a note that reminds me of ironed fabric. Many saffron incense sticks have this note.
Kamasutra doesn’t smell bad to me, but I find the scent a little obtrusive, and overall, they’re not quite my thing.
Hari OM
I’ve already reviewed this variety once before, a while back.
I find the new batch of Hari OM doesn’t smell bad, but compared to the first pack I had, they’re average and boring. Their smell still resembles the old ones to a certain degree, but it seems they’ve entirely lost their character – the thing that made them special to me.
The raw sticks smell slightly soapy, maybe like a mild shower gel with a light fruit note.
Lit, the scent is generic: slightly sweet, a bit woody and likewise soapy with a faint, tart note.
Conclusion:
The brand overall doesn’t seem bad, but none of the varieties blow me away. And the one that did manage to excite me is now also average at best.
With this selection, and the negative experience with the Hari OM reorder, I’ve lost my interest in Hand-Made In Nepal for the most part.