Long before women
were seen in jeans and men wore earrings, unisex was
a word in India’s world of perfumes or itrs.
The fragrances of itr, or attar
as it is commonly known, are divided by factors other
than gender. Unlike their Western counterpart, there
are no masculine or feminine fragrances.
The rules that exist are strict. Factors like the
season, the occasion and of course, the temperament
influence what you wear and when.
The Maharjas of the erstwhile states of Gwaliar, Patiala,
Darbhanga, Mysore and even Maharaja Ranjit Singh are
counted amongst the most famous users of attars. Amongst
the modern Indian dignitaries is former President
Shanker Dayal Sharma, who is a connoisseur of attar
Chameli.
Another President, Dr S Radhakrishnan, was fond of
the light fragrance of Majuma. Indira Gandhi used
attar Heena in winters.
The word itr means perfume in Arabic and
its corrupted form — attar— is accepted in the Oxford
dictionary. Their pedigree dates back over 2000 years.
In India itr has been a part of the cultured
lifestyle. The early documented use of itr is in Abul
Fazal’s account of Akbar’s court in Aain-e-Akbari.
Abul Fazal mentions Akbar using attar along with incense
sticks burnt daily in gold and silver censers.
Noorjehan, the Mughal empress, is credited with the
discovery of itr. Legend has it that she
liked crushed rose petals in her bath water and discovered
the most exquisite and costly of all itrs
— the Rooh Gulab. Legend says that once when she went
for her bath she found an oily layer over the water
kept to cool overnight, which when distilled became
the famous rose perfume.
Some ascribe the discovery to her Persian mother and
still others say that it was an ordinary woman in
Persia, the famous centre of Taifi or rose itr,
who discovered the perfume in the 17th century.
Process
Traditional attar families hold the secrets of distillation
, which is a very specialised job. Simply explained,
itr is the pure extract of flowers in sandalwood
oil. The oil forms an ideal base for perfumes as during
the distillation, the original perfume of sandalwood
vanishes and the oil captures the fragrance of the
flower. No chemical is used in attars and more often
than not they are not blended, but pure perfumes made
from petals or other perfumed substances.
The valley of Taif in Western Saudi Arabia near Jeddah
is famous the world over for its rose attar and water.
The rosebuds known as taifi to the locals
are plucked when they have just opened up and before
the sun's rays diminish the oils, which contain the
essence of their perfume.
The distillation is done in several tin-lined copper
pots which can hold about 50 litres of water each.
Approximately 10,000 roses are put in each container.
The pot is then tightly sealed and the mix simmers
for six hours. The steam collected goes through a
tube that passes through a pool of cold water and
ultimately reaches a large glass jar called al-Arousa,
where the rose water is collected.
At this point the droplets of attar are still in the
rose water, so a second distillation takes place,
in which the globules of attar rise to the surface
as the liquid cools down, facilitating their collection
with a device similar to a syringe. The attar collected
in just one of these containers produces one single
tolah (about 11.7 ounces) that sells for
between 2000 and 3000 Saudi riyals.
Rose water has sacred as well as festive uses in Arabia.
It is used to perfume the Yemeni Corner of the holy
Ka'bah apart from being used in the kitchen and for
the two Ids.
Rose attar is the costliest since a hundred kilograms
of roses yield only two grams of attar. In the traditional
process of hydro distillation , the fire, known as
a bhatti, is of cow dung and wood. Water
and flower plants are measured in a copper vessel,
which is placed inside a container know as degh.
The scented steam passes through a hollow bamboo stem
into the bhapka or the condenser placed in
cold water with boiled and cooled essential oils.
The more you distil, the more fragrant the attar is
and of course, as expensive too. Indian perfumers
known as the gundhis have their own manufacturing
units for growing flowers.
Types
Abul Fazal mentions flowers like ghulab, bela,
chameli, champa, maulshri and rajnigandha
along with the roots like adrak or ginger.
According to Abul Fazal the barks used in Akbar’s
time were sandal, cinnamon and aloe. Animal substances
like musk, myrrh and ambergris were also used along
with khus, a type of grass and a few other
spices.
Today the most used varieties of itr are
rose, jasmine, sandal, henna, nargis, majuma,
kevda, khus and mogra.
Reasons,
Seasons And Occasions
Baraatis as they enter the wedding area ar5e sprinkled
with rose water. The water for drinking is perfumed
with Kevda. On a summer evening, a swab of
jasmine or khus lifts your spirits in the oppressive
heat of Northern India. Kastoori or musk was
for winters and Khus for summers. The most
famous and elusive scent for the summer heat is the
sondhi mitti, literally the smell of earth
after the first showers of rain.
Some connoisseurs have exquisitely chiselled attardans
(containers), often inlaid with ivory and containing
marvellously carved cut glass decanters. A major difference
between synthetic perfumes and attar is that the oil-based
attar is worn directly on your body. The inside of the
wrist, behind the ears, the inside of elbow joints,
back of the neck and a few other imaginative parts of
your anatomy are directly dabbed with itr.
Experts say that the smell of the attar is likely to
stay the longest on cottons rather than synthetic cloth.
And some attars will evaporate in the heat of summer
if not carefully applied. Which is why it is advisable
to place a swab of cotton inside the ear. The fragrance
will linger on the clothes even after a wash.
Unlikely as it seems, the tobacco industry is by far
the largest consumer of attar, which is responsible
for the aroma of cigarettes. The rapidly growing pan
masala industry is emerging as another major consumer.
Together, they consume almost 90 per cent of the attar
produced.
Medicinal Aroma
Lemon oil taken internally or sniffed, is good for diabetes,
asthma, boils and varicose veins. Three drops of sweet
marjoram taken with a little jaggery cures migraine
and hangovers. Nausea and vomiting are immediately controlled
by petitgren oil. The simplest example of aromatherapy
is attar Gill or Itr-e-khaki, (sondhi mitti)
drawn from mud, which has the aroma of the first monsoon
showers and can cure blood pressure and the flow of
blood through nose owing to intense heat.
Indian itr is increasingly being used for aromatherapy
these days. The floral extracts with oil base can be
extensively marketed for aromatherapy. Jasmine extract
is useful in cases of stress, hypertension and treating
skin ailments. Inhaling sandalwood oil lessens stress
and can stop vomiting. Applying it on the chest and
throat cures dry cough. Its curative properties extend
to skin ailments as well.
Marigold extract is an old medicine meant to heal stubborn
wounds. It has excellent antiseptic properties. Heena
is known for its heat inducing qualities and if used
on quilts during winters, it is known to provide extra
warmth. If inhaled during summer it can lead to nasal
bleeding as well.
Prices And Places
Kannauj, a small town in Uttar Pradesh, is known for
production of Itr. More than 25,000 of the total 70,000
population of Kannauj is engaged in attar production.
Some of India's most renowned attar sellers, apart from
Dariba in Chandni Chowk in old Delhi, are in Lucknow,
like Izhar Ahmed and Sons, who established their shop,
popularly known as Sugandhco, in 1850. Asghar Ali Mohammad
Ali, also in Lucknow and established in the early 1800s
is one of the oldest traders. They own attar perfumeries
in Kannauj. Bombay has its own, rather miniscule, share
of attar walas in Mohammad Ali Road. Most towns have
their own old man with a box full of attar all over
India.
There are various centres for the raw material too.
Roses come from Sikatra near Aligarh.Kevda
comes from Ganjam in Orissa. Chameli and motia
comes from Sikandarpur on the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border.
Most of the attars have been around for centuries and
attract connoisseurs who don’t let anything except the
season come in the way of their passion. Some itrs that
are either restricted or banned. Sandalwood, for instance
is a restricted item, but the government releases a
quota for manufacturers. Musk is now prohibited since
overkill has made the musk deer almost extinct. A few
attar manufacturers claim that they can remove the deer's
fragrance by injecting it out through its stomach without
having to kill it, but musk is a prohibited item. Other
rare itrs are amber and myrrh. Rooh Gulab is the costliest of all attars at
Rs 3,500 ($70) for a vial of 10 gm. Chameli and Motia
are also quite expensive. Attars are priced anywhere
between Rs 1,500 ($30) per kg to as much as Rs 10 lakh
($50,000) per kg. For a vial of 10 grams you pay Rs
150 ($5) to Rs 4000-6000 ($80-$120). Smaller vials of
2, 5 and 10 ml are commonly available for as little
as Rs 60. ($1.20).
Long before women
were seen in jeans and men wore earrings, unisex was
a word in India’s world of perfumes or itrs.
The fragrances of itr, or attar
as it is commonly known, are divided by factors other
than gender. Unlike their Western counterpart, there
are no masculine or feminine fragrances. 
Process
