Flowers, offered to Sambalpur’s presiding deity Maa Samalei at Samaleswari Temple, are now being repurposed. A group of women, who were initially engaged in making food
items, have shifted their focus to manufacturing incense sticks using these recycled flowers. With flowers as the primary ingredient, these women have not only augmented their incomes but have also introduced an innovative product in the incense stick segment for the past three
months. The self-help group (SHG) of Dhankauda after a month long training by Sambalpur Municipal Corporation, started making incense sticks. The brand is named Juhar, a word used to greet people in Sambalpuri culture.
A five-member SHG, along with the inmates of Swadhar Gruha, a shelter for girls and women abandoned by their
families, are engaged in this job.
A vehicle fetches waste flowers from the temples of Sambalpur town every morning which are processed by machines provided by Sambalpur Municipal Corporation to produce and pack the incense sticks.