BENGALURU: It was a customary ritual in the house of Chandrasekhar H in Bengaluru. He swore by the Mysore Sandal Soap and used only this product all his life and was particular that others in the household did too, on special days. His wife ensured that she gave her grandchildren a good oil massage before lathering them up with Mysore Sandal Soap.
Chandrasekhar passed away a few years ago but he and his wife had managed to pass on the legacy to their children and grandchildren too, even if the connect is a rather tenuous one now.
The Mysore Sandal Soap, a household name across India and some parts of the world, came into being in 1918, about the time the First World War was at its peak. Mysuru may seem so far away from the warfields in Europe. But there’s a connection.
Mysuru had been a major exporter of sandalwood, and most of it was exported to Europe. During World War I, large reserves of sandalwood were left unused because they could not be exported. In order to put them to good use, the then Maharaja of Mysore, Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, established the Government Soap Factory in Bengaluru, now called the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KSDL).
He had been gifted a sandalwood soap which inspired him to make it in his own kingdom. “The factory, which was set up in 1918, started manufacturing soaps under the brand-name Mysore Sandal Soap using sandalwood oil as the main ingredient,” said a senior KSDL official.
The state-owned KSDL manufactures the soap, and it turned 100 on May 10. It will be another two years before the soap brand itself turns 100.
KSDL has been able to hold fort in a market dominated by multinationals. KSDL today earns some 80 per cent of its revenues from sales of the soap. That would imply the company had revenues of `384 crore from the sale of the soap alone as it had revenues of about `480 crore in 2015-16.
“The use of the soap has been passed down through generations,” said Veronica Carnelio, whose two-year term as chairperson ended recently.
Mysore Sandal Millennium Soap, the costliest brand of soap sold in India, is set to get costlier with KSDL planning to hike its price from `720 to `810 soon.