Love that wonderful earthy smell that comes with the first rain of the season? Petrichor is the name for the amazing smell that comes when the first rain of the season falls on dry soil. It’s made of different tiny particles that come up from the ground when the rain sinks in. If you’ve ever wanted to keep that fantastic earthy scent, an old city in Uttar Pradesh figured out how to do that a while back.
In Kannauj, a little town by the Ganges River, they turn the lovely petrichor smell into tiny glass bottles. This town has kept the old secrets of making traditional Indian perfumes for a long time.
This city, often called the ‘Grasse of the East’ and ‘India’s Perfume Capital,’ has a long history of making wonderful scents. It’s located on a historic route that brought perfumes from India to the Middle East. In Kannauj, they were famous for making amazing attars, which are fragrant oils. The perfumers there even created scented oils that Mughal Emperors loved.
In a famous story from the past, written by Abul Fazl in the biography of Akbar called Ain-I-Akbari, it’s said that the city’s perfume industry began like this: A servant in Jahangir’s palace in Agra noticed drops of rose oil on the water in Noor Jehan’s bathing pool. The man, who was from Kannauj, thought that the oil came from rose petals touching warm water by accident. He likely then invented a way to extract this oil using steam and condensation.
In ancient times, these fragrances were kept in small bags made from camel skin. Today, they’re stored in bottles made from buffalo skin. The lovely scent is held in a sandalwood oil base and kept in leather containers called “kuppis.” Sunlight removes excess water, letting the true attar fragrance shine. It’s a warm, natural scent enriched with minerals.
Long ago, perfumers from Kannauj made a special scent to capture the smell of earth after the first monsoon rains. They used dry clay and ancient methods to create what’s now known as mitti attar or itr-e-khaki.
Even today, in the traditional perfume workshops of Kannauj, skilled artisans continue to craft mitti attar. These craftsmen, with their strong hands, tend to fires beneath old copper pots called degs. They use a slow and patient distillation method called “deg bhapka,” which lacks any modern machines and maintains a connection to ancient techniques.
The copper pot, known as a “deg,” is situated over its own fire source and has a water-filled channel. This setup is linked to a rounded condenser named “bhapka,” which collects the aromatic liquid following the distillation process.
Tiny pieces of clay are crafted in nearby villages, then left to dry in the sun before being positioned inside the copper pots. Instead of using vetiver roots or flower petals, the artisans place these partially baked clay pieces into the pots. They cover the clay with water, secure a lid on top, and seal it with mud. Underneath, a fire from wood or cow dung is kindled. Meanwhile, sandalwood oil is poured into the bulbous condenser (bhapka), which is immersed in a water trough. A hollow bamboo pipe connects the pot and the condenser. This pipe carries the rich scented vapors from the simmering clay pot to the condenser, where they blend with the sandalwood oil. To prevent condensation, the receiver is changed periodically, and the pot is cooled with damp cloths.
In ancient times, these fragrances were kept in small bags made from camel skin. Today, they’re stored in bottles made from buffalo skin. The lovely scent is held in a sandalwood oil base and kept in leather containers called “kuppis.” Sunlight removes excess water, letting the true attar fragrance shine. It’s a warm, natural scent enriched with minerals.
Mitti attar is just a single beautiful fragrance among the many created by Kannauj perfumers. They also craft attars like Gulab, Keora, Hina, Champa, Bakul, Parijata, Chameli, Motia, Genda, Ratrani, and Kadam. These attars continue to exude wonderful scents.
All of these perfumes have received protection through the Geographical Indication (GI) tag under the Government of India’s GI Act 1999. This safeguards their origin and quality as Kannauj Perfumes.
As you stroll through Kannauj today, you’ll notice the ancient fronts of weathered perfume houses that lend the town a medieval ambiance. Hosting more than 250 perfumeries, a good number of which are struggling to survive, it feels as though the entirety of Kannauj is involved in crafting attar through various stages.
At the lively Vijay Market, experts are skillfully combining unique ingredients for these special fragrances, while some are sorting through piles of flowers and herbs, all playing a part in the process.
In Vijay Market, many shops offer fragrant delights like scented oils and incense, but the most popular remains the simple yet captivating mitti attar.
Thanks to the perfumers of Kannauj, you no longer need to pin all your hopes on nature to provide you with the musky smell of wet earth. You can smell the essence of rain and renewal through tiny bottles of the heavenly mitti attar from the perfume capital of India.
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