Attars / Fragrances
For thousands of years, Kannauj, the perfume capital of India, has been crafting oil-based natural fragrances called Attars. Attars, also called Ittars, are manufactured using traditional methods like distillation using water or steam in Kannauj even today. These perfumes do not have any chemicals or alcohol.
Attars are extracted from various plant sources: flowers like rose, jasmine, mogra, and kewda; spices like saffron, roots like vetiver, leaves like henna, bark like cinnamon, and wood like camphor and sandalwood are the most popular. Non-plant natural materials like musk and baked clay are also used to make attars.
Written as far back as the 6th century AD, Brihat Samhita, an encyclopedia by an Indian polymath Varahamihira, mentions the manufacture of perfumes in India. While kings and queens of ancient India were known to bathe in fragrances, the love of Mughal emperors and their queens for perfumes is legendary. Mughals not only grew a wide array of aromatic flowers in their gardens for making perfumes but also had an entire department of perfumery! The patronage of Mughals and later the promotion by Nawabs of Awadh gave the perfumery industry in India a shot-in-the-arm.
Over time, the use of scents became aspirational for even common people. Attars, especially the Kannauj Perfume, have scented everything from people’s wrists to homes and food to fountains. The new generation, both in India and globally, is once again waking up to the seduction of these scents.
You can select and customise products from our product range in Attars / Fragrances which include pure attars, essential oils, roll on attars, diffusers, rose water, face packs and so on.
