History of Incense Clock
The origination of the incense clock comes from Indian roots, in its most basic form, although the invention has been widely and popularly associated with the largest populated country of China. When it comes to fundamental forms, evidence suggests it was discovered first in India and then in terms of functionalities, it got associated with China.
The time as early as 6th-8th century BC in China, when incense clocks were present in the country in full swing, these clocks had Devanagari carvings on them that belonged to India, instead of Chinese seals characters on them. Incense was introduced to China by India ages ago, through monks and Buddhist pilgrims who would pay a visit to India to tour religious places and then take the learning and concepts back to their country.
Many researchers have accredited to the originations and scriptures of the incense to India. However, they have also asserted that the “time telling” feature of the clock was invented in China, and hence, the credit for the functions of the incense clock goes to China.