Agarwood's Sanskrit name, aguru, sits behind both of the words most commonly used for it today: "agar," the term used across Hindi and several other Indian languages, and indirectly "oud," the Arabic term that entered global use along separate trade routes covered in our guide to the history of agarwood trade. India has both a long documented relationship with aguru in classical medical literature and a major present-day role as a global agarwood producer, centred in the northeastern state of Assam.
This guide separates what is clearly documented, particularly in Ayurvedic medical texts, from broader claims about Vedic and Puranic ritual use that are widely repeated in popular writing but harder to verify against specific textual sources.
Aguru: The Sanskrit Root of Agarwood's Name
Aguru is the Sanskrit term for agarwood, and it is the direct linguistic root of "agar," the word used for agarwood across Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, and other Indian languages. Aromatic substances associated with fire offerings and ritual life are a long-attested feature of Vedic and later Hindu literature, and aguru is frequently cited in popular and trade writing as one of the materials referenced in that broader tradition. Precisely which early textual references identify aguru specifically, as opposed to other aromatic substances grouped alongside it, is a more detailed philological question than this guide can settle, so readers should treat sweeping claims about exact verses or specific ancient texts with some caution unless a specific, checkable source is given.
What is much more clearly documented is aguru's place in classical Indian scientific and medical literature, covered next.
Agaru in Ayurvedic Medicine
Agaru appears under that name in the Charaka Samhita, one of Ayurveda's two foundational classical texts, and in the Brihat Samhita, a sixth century Sanskrit encyclopedic work by the scholar Varahamihira that includes a dedicated section on perfumery, traditionally referred to as gandhayukti. Later Ayurvedic lexicons built on this foundation. The Sodhala Nighantu, a medieval Sanskrit materia medica text, distinguishes between several named varieties of agaru, including plain agaru and a darker variety referred to as krishna agaru, reflecting an awareness that not all agarwood was considered equal even within the classical tradition.
Within Ayurvedic theory, agaru is classified among rasayana substances, a category broadly associated with rejuvenation and vitality, and has traditionally been used in fumigation preparations associated with respiratory complaints.
This is a description of Ayurvedic classification, not medical advice. Rasayana and other Ayurvedic categories reflect a distinct traditional medical framework rather than terms with an agreed biomedical definition. Readers with health concerns should consult a qualified medical professional.
Incense, Havan, and Daily Worship
Burning aromatic substances during havan, the Vedic fire offering ritual, and during daily puja is a long-standing and well documented feature of Hindu religious practice generally, and agarwood, in the form of raw chips, powder, or as an ingredient in rolled incense sticks known as agarbatti, is one of the materials used for this purpose. The rising smoke from incense offered during puja and aarti is widely understood within Hindu devotional practice as a way of carrying prayer and devotion outward, a symbolic role incense plays across multiple South and East Asian religious traditions, including the Buddhist and Chinese practices covered in our other guides in this series.
Assam: India's Agarwood Heartland
India is home to documented Aquilaria populations, principally in its northeastern states, and Assam in particular has developed into a major centre of agarwood cultivation, processing, and oil distillation. The Hojai district is widely described in trade reporting as the centre of this industry, where agarwood is processed into chips, powder, and distilled oil before being traded onward. India introduced restrictions on the export of agarwood and agarwood products in 1991, a regulatory shift that, alongside CITES protections on wild Aquilaria populations, helped push Assam's industry further toward cultivated plantation production rather than wild harvesting, a broader pattern covered in our guide to wild vs plantation agarwood. Assam's agarwood sector is reported to directly support well over 100,000 livelihoods in the state today.
Curious how Assam's plantation-driven model compares to wild harvesting elsewhere?
Wild vs Plantation AgarwoodAgarwood and the Indian Attar Tradition
India also has a centuries-old tradition of attar production, traditional natural perfume oils typically distilled using hydro-distillation methods. Agarwood oil, often referred to in this context simply as agar oil or oud oil, sits alongside ingredients such as rose, sandalwood, and saffron as one of the more highly regarded materials in Indian attar making, particularly in long-established perfume centres such as Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, a tradition that developed in parallel with, and drew on similar source material to, the Middle Eastern oud tradition covered in the history of agarwood trade.
Agarwood in Hindu Practice Today
Today, agarwood reaches Hindu religious and devotional life mainly through agarbatti and dhoop used in home and temple worship, and through attar and agar oil used as personal fragrance, sometimes within an explicitly devotional or Ayurvedic framing and sometimes simply as fine perfumery. As with other major agarwood-consuming cultures, rising demand in India has increased pressure on supply and made cultivated, plantation-grown material an increasingly central part of how the tradition continues, rather than a departure from it.