Mysore Sandal

The Government Sandalwood Oil factory was established by the Maharaja of Mysore His Highness Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar and Diwan Sir, M. Visvesvaraya, during the year 1916 at Mysore, to extract Sandalwood Oil from Sandalwood. The Maharaja of Mysore was keen to propel Mysore State on the Global Map, by introducing “THE WORLD’S BEST NATURAL SANDALWOOD OIL” and to make it as a “FRAGRANCE AMBASSADOR OF INDIA”. The first experiment for extraction of Sandalwood oil from Sandalwood was successfully conducted in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, under the leadership of Prof. Suddourough and Prof. Watson. The high quality Sandalwood oil with British Pharmacopeia was introduced to the world by the Government Soap Factory, Mysore.

During the year 1918, a foreign guest presented a rare gift pack of Soaps made by using Sandalwood oil produced in our Country to His Highness, the Maharaja of Mysore. This has sparked the idea of utilizing the available natural Sandalwood oil for making soap in the home State of Mysore. Sri S.G. Shastry, who was a qualified Industrial Chemist, was sent to London for an advanced training on Soap & Perfumery technology. With the return of S.G. Shastry from London, the era of MYSORE SANDAL SOAP began. Sri S.G. Shastry has developed Sandal perfume, which was considered as a land mark in the field of soap perfuming in those days. The first indigenous SANDAL SOAP with Sandal Note as its base fragrance along with the other Natural Essential Oils consisting of Vetivert, Patchouli, Geranium, Palm Rosa, orange, Petitgrain etc. was produced and introduced in the market under the brand name of MYSORE SANDAL SOAP during the year 1918.