Rope incense is one of the many forms of incense available. It is called rope incense because it looks like a rope, though it is not actually made from twine. It is made by placing herbs and other plant materials on rice paper and then twisting the rice paper to form what looks like a rope. The raw incense materials are gently shaken into an even depth along the length of the rice paper. Then, using the right amount of tension to ensure no rip in the paper, the rice paper is twirled between the fingers. Once the twirling has reached its depth, the rope is then doubled back-over onto itself into a classic rope incense form.
Rope incense is a Tibetan/Himalayan style incense. Tibetan style and Ayurvedic healing incenses have very natural, woody/ herbal aromas produced by combining sandalwood, saffron, cloves and other rare and common herbs following often ancient recipes which are prepared under close supervision by Yogi, Ayurvedic medicine, or Tibetan healing practitioners.
Virtually all Tibetan/Himalayan style incense is handmade in Nepal. Rope incense belongs to a long tradition of family cottage industries in the Himalayas. Almost all young children learn to twist ropes from their grandparents and eventually teach their own children or grandchildren. The ropes are produced in large quantities by farmers and other villagers during their off season. Buying this type of incense helps support communities in Nepal and India and provides education for their people.
Because it is a family cottage industry, there is a large variety of rope incense with many different formulas. Despite the many formulas, rope incense will typically contain saffron, nagi, and red & white sandalwood. Regardless of the brand or label, their quality is generally comparable.
Rope incense is typically about 3.5 inches in length and the strands of the ropes are usually about 2mm-3mm in diameter. It is sold in bundles of 30-40 ropes and some packages may contain multiple bundles. The average burning time for each rope is about 30 minutes.
There are two different methods for burning rope incense. One is to burn the rope incense lying flat on a bed of ash, which allows the entire rope to burn safely and completely. The other is to use a rope incense burner. A rope incense burner is just like a coil incense burner in that it has a hook on which to hang the rope incense and a base to catch the ashes. A rope incense burner and a coil incense burner are often interchangeable. Rope incense can be very smoky, especially the bigger the rope. If you’re new to rope incense, you might want to try a smaller and mellower one first.
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