2025.11.12 2025.11.14

VIRUPAKSHA RAJA (Siam 1928)

Perfume Geek K

VIRUPAKSHA RAJA

SIAM 1928

TADA ARCHAWONG

2025

THAILAND

Bergamot Clary Sage Fig Jasmine Muguet

Lavender Violet Oakmoss Rose Aqua Note Labdanum

Grey Ambergris Tincture Musk Hyacinth Patchouli Sandalwood

CONCEPT

Virupaksha Raja is one of the Four Great Kings in Buddhist cosmology and serves as the divine guardian of the West. He rules from the Cāturmahārājika Heaven, the first celestial realm of the desire world, and is charged with maintaining the cosmic order and balance. As a deity, he governs over the Nāgas, mythical serpentine beings often associated with water, fertility, transformation, and hidden wisdom.

In Thai and Southeast Asian traditions, Virupaksha is revered as a vigilant protector who sees beyond illusion and deception. He is often depicted wielding a bow, symbolizing precision, far-reaching vision, and unwavering alertness. His presence represents a powerful force that guards, guides, and upholds harmony between the heavens and the human realm.

The fragrance opens with a powerful and invigorating blend of Bergamot and Clary Sage, capturing the clarity of first light carried by the cool western wind. A green roundness from Fig follows, evoking tender leaves sprouting atop a misty peak, a symbol of purity and fresh beginnings.

At its heart, the scent unfolds into a gentle yet profound floral accord. Jasmine, Rose, Muguet, Violet, Lavender and Hyacinth blossom gracefully, like a soft unveiling of compassion, wisdom and inner harmony. Each note reveals itself with quiet strength and elegance, mirroring the calm authority of Virupaksha Raja, a power that radiates from within rather than from force.

The base brings the composition to a grounded, dignified close. Oakmoss and Patchouli provide an earthy stability, while Labdanum and Ambergris tincture add a layer of sweet, resinous mystery, the sacred root of the scent. Musk lends a subtle tenderness, and Sandalwood balances the entire structure with a soft, enduring presence. A touch of Aqua Note flows through like a pristine current in the hidden caverns of the Nāga realm.

Siam 1928 Official Website: https://siam1928.com/product/siam1928-virupaksha-raja-porcelain-bottle-limited-quantity/

THOUGHTS

Inspired by Virupaksha, the celestial guardian of the West and keeper of the subterranean waters, Virupaksha Raja embodies the mystery and purity of hidden depths — a fragrance that captures the stillness of water and the quiet serenity that follows the rain. It evokes the image of a sacred world beneath the surface, where light filters softly through the veil of earth.

The opening greets you with the fresh radiance of bergamot, tinged with a green brightness that recalls tender leaves touched by rain. The gentle influence of clary sage softens the edges, allowing a subtle jasmine to bloom — delicate and inviting, as though guiding you deeper into the quiet flow beneath the earth’s surface. It is an exquisitely dewy and refreshing beginning, the kind that draws you in again and again, urging you to rediscover its beauty with every breath.

As the fragrance moves into its dry-down, it transforms into a transparent aquatic floral, serene and luminous. On the skin, it reveals not the boldness of heavy florals, but rather the essence of small white blossoms, or their reflections dissolved in water — faint, graceful, and ephemeral. These soft petals seem to gather together, forming a gentle harmony that floats like light upon a stream. The aquatic accord is not marine, but crystalline and pure, reminiscent of a mountain spring flowing through moss and stone.

In the base notes, a light, woody aroma with a touch of damp earth emerges, evoking the scent of moist soil after gentle rain. It does not alter the story woven through the heart, but rather supports and grounds it, adding quiet depth and a sense of natural continuity. Everything lingers beautifully — calm, balanced, and profoundly serene.

While many aquatic fragrances fade too swiftly, Virupaksha Raja retains its delicate watery aura until the very end, leaving behind a lingering trace of its crystalline purity.

Virupaksha Raja is a fragrance of tranquil depth and luminous grace — a meditation in scent. It captures the purity of water and the still beauty that follows a storm. Subtle yet enduring, it is a perfume that whispers rather than commands — a serene presence that stays close to the skin, like the echo of rain remembered in sunlight.