Bhutan Tsholung Tours & Travels
The Incense maker of Thimphu
Nado Poi Zokhang has been making PREMIUM INCENSE at its Thimphu factory for almost half a century. Here, Lamdon, who recently took over this family business from her father, explains what makes the manufacturer’s products so special, what materials they use and where they come from, and why incense is SO IMPORTANT in Bhutanese culture.
Could you first introduce us to what you do?
I manage Nado Poi Zokhang, the oldest hand-made incense-stick manufacturer in Bhutan, and a family business. My father formed the company almost 50 years ago. For a time, he and his colleague, an incense master, were the only two manufacturers in the country; they supplied incense to the government. The master held the traditional formulas and under his instruction my father transformed raw materials into powder. In 1991 the company was privatised, following a government initiative, and my dad ran the business alone with my mum. My three siblings and I would help after school and at the weekends, and slowly the business grew. We now employ 22 people at our factory in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan.