History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c19.3

v1.c19.3

Rāmāyaṇa (Critical Edition G.O.S. Baroda) mentions gandha (IV.24.16; VII 26.6) candanāgurugandhi (II.82.6), candanodaka-saṃsiktā (II.74.13), candanāguruniryāsa (II.70.16). The word gandhamālya is used for eight times and candana for more than twenty times. These references indicate that in the age of Rāmāyaṇa, perfumed waters and scented oils were not only used for anointment, but were also used for rendering palaces and public places fragrant. The reference to gandhataila (Rāmāyaṇa V.16.18), scented oil, evinces, that the technique of transmission of fragrance of flowers into oil was known in the Rāmāyaṇa age.