Account of a Censer

Bhutanese public buildings and farmhouses have a structure built in the form of a vase or stupa which are used as oven to make smoke and burn incenses. Known as sangthab or purification fireplace, incense and branches of fragrant trees are burn in this structure to create huge billows of smoke as an offering. This offering takes place in the front of family houses every morning and when there is an important visitor. Although there is rarely any historical accounts of a censer structure, there are accounts of construction of these structures including their shape, the materials used and the location where they are built.