Teja Lele takes us on a voyage to an Indian City that is revolutionising the world perfumery, by bottling the smell of rain.
No fragrance uplifts the senses faster than the petrichor that emanates from the grass and soil after a long, dry period. Australian scientists coined the term petrichor in 1964 to describe the unique, earthy smell associated with rain. The fragrance is created by the intermingling of rain water, along with certain compounds like ozone, geosmin, and plant oils.
The perfumers of Kannauj, India’s perfume capital, are well aware of the impact the smell of rain falling on dry ground creates, and have for decades bottled the scent as mitti attar.
Mitti means “earth,” attar means “essential oil”. The fragrance, essentially smell of rain- soaked earth, is recreated in Kannauj using a special, centuries-old technique. The precious attar is expensive – about 0.26 gallon sells for Rs 180,000($2,178) – and is among the star perfumes produced in Kannauj, a small town located about 100 km from Lucknow, the capital of the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Kannauj Perfumers Hard at Work
Kannauj – A Rich History of Perfumery
Kannauj, which has served as the centre of imperial Indian dynasties, is to India what Grasse is to France. The rich alluvial soil on the banks of the Ganges has for centuries positioned the town perfectly for the cultivation of jasmine, vetiver, Damask rose, and other flowers.
“Kannauj has a legacy of over 2,000 years in the art of perfumery. Its expertise lies in creating natural perfumes, using traditional methods passed down through generations. The region is renowned for its use of indigenous flowers, herbs, and roots to craft unique fragrances,” says eight generation perfumer Pranav Kapoor.
The city’s geographical location and climate make it ideal for cultivating the raw materials needed for perfume production. Attar is a natural perfume made using traditional distillation methods without any alcohol or synthetic additives. “It is crafted by extracting the essence of flowers, herbs, spices, or even earth and blending it with a base oil, often sandalwood,” says Kapoor, the Founder of PKAPO and Indian Naturals,
which offers “perfume tourism”.
Moreover, Kannauj’s distillation techniques, particularly the hydro-distillation process using copper stills, are unparalleled and remain largely unchanged, preserving its authenticity and heritage. The city is home to approximately 250-300 functioning perfume distilleries (there were once 700), many of which are family-owned and have been operational for centuries.
Kannauj – The Place Perfume Houses Go to Source Ingredients
“Attars and scents are extracted from flowers like roses and jasmine, plants like vetiver,
and natural resources such as musk, camphor, saffron and other aromatic substances.
The production process is highly artisanal and involves close collaboration with local
farmers for sourcing,” says Deepesh Alankar, of Oriental Perfumes.
Attars available in Kannauj are floral (rose, jasmine, and hina), spice-based (cardamom, clove, shamama, and saffron, and earthy (vetiver and mitti). Perfume oils, which blend traditional ingredients with modern aromatic profiles, are also made and appeal to contemporary tastes. “Modern perfumes use alcohol as a carrier or solvent as it’s neutral and inexpensive. But attars traditionally use sandalwood oil, which helps the skin absorb them easily and makes them long lasting,” Alankar says.
Renowned perfume houses in Europe come to Kannauj to choose floral and other attar to be used as a layer in their perfumes. The mitti attar, however, remains one of Kannauj’s most iconic fragrances, capturing the nostalgic and grounding scent of rain-soaked earth. Despite the scent’s long history in Kannauj, little is known about its origins. “But the attar is well known throughout the Indian subcontinent, with sacred Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita referencing the earth’s aroma -and the likely reason for why people started bottling the unique smell,” says Govind Malhotra, of Puja Perfumery.
The process starts with collection of clay. “Fine clay is sourced from riverbanks; this is known for its earthy aroma. The clay is then baked in earthen pots to create kuhlads (small pots) and intensify its fragrance,” Kapoor says. The baked clay is then placed in a copper still and distilled using the deg-bhapka (traditional hydro-distillation) method with sandalwood oil as the base. “The attar is then aged for a few months to enhance its depth and complexity,” Kapoor says.
Bottling the smell of rain
Perfume Tourism
With more people now interested in experiential travel, Kapoor has started a perfume tour to highlight the legacy of Kannauj and his own family. After a stroll through the bustling bazaars, the tour lets you witness the entire process – from extraction to the final product – and even lets an expert perfumer help create a custom fragrance.
“The idea of perfume tourism stemmed from a desire to share Kannauj’s rich history and unmatched expertise in perfumery with the world. While people are familiar with fragrances, they rarely understand the craftsmanship and cultural significance behind them,” Kapoor says.
Perfume tourism offers visitors an immersive experience. It takes them on a sensory journey with farm visits to witness the cultivation of roses, jasmine, and other fragrant plants; distillery tours to explore traditional distillation units and learn about hydro- distillation, a process unchanged for over 1,000 years; and a perfume bar experience, where guests learn about various olfactive profiles, their fragrant ingredients, and can
create their own unique scent.
“We also offer an exclusive dining experience that pairs fragrance and flavour, completing the entire experience of a perfume tour,” Kapoor says. The initiative aims to celebrate Kannauj’s heritage while supporting local artisans and promoting sustainable tourism.
The Unique Craft of Bottling the Smell of Rain
At the many distilleries, each fragrance tells the story of Kannauj’s heritage, craftsmanship, and connection to nature. But the bottling of the smell of rain is unusual, creating a scent that’s found nowhere else – except in nature.
Numerous perfumers have attempted to capture the scent of rain: Demeters Thunderstorm aims to bottle the “‘deep and violent” scent of a summer storm brewing; Christopher Brosius’s Black March is reminiscent of “rain drops, leaf buds, wet twigs, tree sap, bark, mossy earth, and the faintest hint of spring”, and David Seth’s hike-inspired scent, Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake, is “fog-on-stone”.
But not one of them is as enduring as the mitti attar from Kannauj, India. “Mitti attar is deeply symbolic, evoking a sense of nostalgia and a connection to nature. It represents Kannauj’s ability to turn the essence of elements of nature into a wearable fragrance,” Kapoor says.
I really enjoyed this article—it’s both informative and engaging.
The site is a great place for valuable insights.