There is an absolute fascination in the divine fragrance of our own Mysuru Sandal products. Soap, talcum powder, oil and every other product made of sandalwood are a class apart. Mysuru is the motherland of Sandalwood. Needless to say, Mysore Sandal Soap has held a special place in the hearts of Indians for more than a century. There is an interesting history behind the Mysuru Sandal Products.
The story behind India’s most-loved soap:
During the early 20th century, erstwhile Mysore Kingdom was one of the largest producers of sandalwood in the world. Most of the sandalwood was exported to Europe. During the First World War, export of wood was stopped and hence large reserves of sandalwood were left over. To utilise these reserves, HH Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the then King of Mysore and his able Dewan Sir M.Vishweshwaraiah established the Government Soap Factory in Bangalore in 1916.
Sir M.Vishweshwaraiah made arrangements for soap making experiments in the premises of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). There he identified a bright, young industrial chemist called Sosale Garalapuri Shastry and sent him to England to fine-tune his knowledge of soap making. After acquiring the required knowledge, Shastry quickly returned to and standardised the procedure of incorporating pure sandalwood oil in soaps after which the Government Soap Factory was established. This factory started manufacturing soaps under the brand name ‘Mysore Sandal Soap’ using sandalwood oil as the main ingredient.
Another sandalwood oil factory was set up at Shimoga during 1944. After the formation of Karnataka, both the factories were taken over by the Government of Karnataka. In 1980, the Government decided to merge these factories and incorporate them under a company named ‘Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited’.
The attractive packaging:
To help Mysore Sandal to stand out from the rest, Shastry gave it an oval shape & a culturally significant packaging. He designed a rectangular box resembling a jewellery case.
Mysore Sandal Soap is the only soap in the world made from 100% pure sandalwood oil (along with other natural essential oils). The company has diversified and now manufactures incense sticks, talcum powder and detergents, apart from soaps. Today, there are a multitude of branded soaps in the market but Mysore Sandal Soap continues to hold a distinctive place among all of them. Its production figures continue to rise, even as the availability of sandalwood is on the decline.
Story behind the logo:
Sharabha, a mythological creature having a body of a lion and the head of an elephant, was chosen as the logo of the company because the creature represents the combined virtues of wisdom, courage, and strength and symbolises the company’s philosophy.
Geographical Indication Tag (GI Tag):
In 2006, the iconic product was awarded a Geographical Indicator (GI) Tag — which means that anyone can make and market a sandalwood soap but only KSDL can rightfully claim it to be ‘Mysore Sandalwood’ soap.