Gorakhpur: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday launched a novel brand of incense stick being made here at Gorakhnath Temple from flower wastes, terming the venture as an outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of converting waste into wealth.
Adityanath launched the “Shree Gorakhnath Ashirwad” brand of incense sticks, being made largely by women, hoping that the novel product would lead to women empowerment as well.
“Besides giving respect to the faith, this is also a big step towards women empowerment,” said the chief minister, noting that the women have already started earning Rs 4000-5000 per month.
Referring to the raw material for the product being flowers used in worships of social functions and later disposed of in rivers as garbage, the chief minister recalled the Prime Minister Modi’s vision and said, “It is also a belief in our tradition that nothing is a waste on this earth and this is a testimony to this fact.”
“These flowers were either thrown away or disposed of in rivers as garbage. This was not only hurting the faith of devotees but was also polluting the rivers,” he said.
The incense sticks are being made by the Mahayogi Gorakhnath Krishi Vigyan Kendra, a district level farm science centre set up in Gorakhpur by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi under host institution Guru Gorakshnath Sewa Sansthan for speedy transfer of technology to the farmers’ fields.
The venture has also been backed by the technical support of the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research institute with the Gorakhnath Temple Trust controlling the production and distribution of incense sticks.
Speaking about the initiative, Lucknow’s CIMAP director Prabodh Kumar Trivedi said it is for the first time that the work has been taken up at a temple in UP.
“Incense sticks are already being made from flowers at the Sai Temple in Shirdi and Vaishno Devi Temple. We will soon be making incense sticks with flowers at the Chandrika Devi Temple in Lucknow also,” he said.
Talking of the production process, he said the flower wastes are first dried in a machine and converted to powder, which is then kneaded along with the wood powder.
The resultant paste is then coated on thin wooden sticks which are soaked in liquid scent and packed, said Trivedi, adding Basil leaves too would soon be used for making sticks.
With a little bit of training, any woman can start making these incense sticks and by
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