Before Sunrise at Tirumala
Sacred water from Akasa Ganga is followed by milk, suddhodakam, chandanam and scented materials. Among them are pachcha karpooram, saffron paste and drops of civet oil, brought in silver vessels before being used in the worship.
At Tirumala, fragrance becomes part of the offering.
Punugu is not a pretty smell.
Raw civet is intense, animalic, musky and often startling. Its value never came from being pleasant on its own.
Traditional perfumers valued civet because, in minute quantities, it could add unusual depth and persistence to a composition. That contradiction is central to Punugu: a difficult aroma that became precious because of what it could do in use.
Today, genuine natural civet-derived perfumery material is rare, highly specialised and handled in very small quantities.
The rarest aromatics were offered.
In older Indian fragrance culture, precious aromatics were not reserved only for personal perfume. Sandalwood, saffron, camphor and other costly materials also belonged to ceremonial and devotional life.
The official TTD description of the Friday Abhishekam specifically names drops of civet oil among the scented articles used for Lord Venkateswara, together with chandanam, pachcha karpooram and saffron paste.
Historical TTD publications also refer to Pulugukappu - the anointing associated with prepared civet oil - in the Friday ritual tradition.
The rarest aromatics were offered, not merely worn.