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Medianus76
Top Review
22
A Trip to India...
1999 - Central India. I am in Hampi, more precisely in Vijayanagar. This was the last Hindu kingdom, and today it is an ancient ruined city with a huge number of temples. The landscape around Hampi immediately fascinates everyone. Out of a whim of nature a hilly area was created, which is covered with a myriad of granite boulders piled up on top of each other. There are many myths and stories about the origin of this bizarre landscape. One says that the monkey god Hanuman let the stones rain down to demonstrate his power...
Anyway, Hampi and its old kingdom is an absolutely magical place where there is a lot to discover. If one wanders through the old temple complexes, one can perceive the smell of incense everywhere. It is almost as if these aromas are coming out of the old masonry of millennia-old temples to tell stories of times long past. Outside the temples, all sorts of traders offer their goods and delicacies for sale. Again and again one catches exotic scent clouds, and in the scorching sun of India one likes to sit down in a shady place to relax with a glass of Chai...
South West Coast, Goa, Vagator Beach. It is the 31.12.1999. The last day of the old millennium is approaching dusk. Goa resembled a witch's cauldron at this time. People from all over the world had come to celebrate the turn of the millennium in a place that was quite unique at that time. The air was electrified, and the great Millennium Bash was to take place in Disco Valley. A party location directly at the sea under a huge number of palm trees. It was a very unique experience at a very unique time. Bright fluorescent colours on the palm trees, illuminated with black light, created the necessary visual space. The smell of dusty sand and the steaming chillums of the party crowd was in the air. Pressureful, wafting basses of the whipping trance music pushed through the masses, and you had to be careful not to get lost in the turmoil...
Northwest coast, Bombay. A big-city juggernaut who is certainly without equal. Never before have I experienced a place that has such poverty and misery, as well as incredible wealth and prosperity, directly
revealed side by side. For me, Bombay had rather little appeal. But my stay there was not too long, so I surely missed many pleasant moments. But what I did not miss were the most different and manifold smells and scents that can be perceived. In the positive as well as in the negative. No matter if spices from street vendors or the air impregnated with exhaust fumes. Bombay has so much to offer...
When I now smell the wonderful fragrance Meo Fusciuni - Varanasi, I immediately have at least one of the three experiences described before my eyes. It's like pressing a rewind button, which catapults me a good 20 years into the past. One could also say that Varanasi is preserved India in its purest form.
But what does Varanasi smell like? The fragrance pyramid has a lot to offer, but in my opinion it makes little sense to filter out individual aromas in isolation.
Varanasi is smoky, woody, also has certain slightly musty musty chords. These in turn give the fragrance the necessary character. Floral, slightly sweetish tendencies round off the fragrance. Resinous-balsamic facets enhance...a little bit of everything.
The fragrance must be perceived in its entirety!
Plattly expressed one could also say he smells like incense, a very good one, mind you. But elegantly expressed, the label has succeeded in capturing, preserving, extracting and filtering the scent of a subcontinent. To create a true niche fragrance. From my current scent horizon, I have never smelled anything comparable.
The intensity and sillage seems to me sufficient to appropriate, and also the durability can be rated as good. However, this is certainly not an everyday scent. Varanasi is quite special, and even if I can associate many memories with it, I don't want to smell it all the time.
Coming back to the west coast again, I would like to close my story with a few words, which I could perceive again and again in the smallest state of India:
Goa is not a place - Goa is a state of mind!
Thank you for reading...