Aarif Ali

Tripuresh Paridhyani
Vatsalya Yadav
Vishal Kumar
Yeshwant Singh Shekhawat
Introduction
● An Odour is a quality of something that
stimulates the olfactory organ; a smell.
● Examples are the smell of earth after rain
has fallen on it (petrichor).
● A fragrance is a pleasant sweet smell.
● Fragrances are often found in natural
resources.
● Most of these resources are botanical in
nature.
● Other resources include animal glands
and/or other natural substances like baked
earth
● Often these substances are used to create
what is known as ‘attars’.
● Attar is an essential oil derived from botanical
sources most commonly through
hydro-distillation .
● This distillation is traditionally done in a wood
base, most common usage being sandalwood
as opposed to western french base of alcohol.
● These are aged in the bases; aging period
can last from one to ten years depending on
the botanicals used and the results desired.

● Made with a hydrodistillation technique

with ‘deg’ and ‘bhapka’.

● These techniques are still in use today at

Kannauj in India.
● Different fragrances are suitable for
different time/seasons of the year.
● Warm attars are used in winters. Examples
include Musk and Saffron.
● Cool attars are used in summers. Examples
include Kewda and Khus.
● Unlike other types of fragrances, Chameli
can be applied at any time round the year.
● Attar has been used as the main ingredient
in medicines from the early days.

● On the basis of botanical sources , natural

fragrances can be categorized into 3, floral,
herbs and spices.
Name Type of fragrance Source

Khus Herbal Vetiver grass

Agarwood Spices Aquilaria Trees

Kewda Floral Pandanus Plant

Name Type of fragrance Source

Sandalwood Herbal Santalum tree genus

Saffron Spices Crocus Sativus plant

Jasmine Floral Jasmine flower

Name Source

Musk Gland in male

musk deer

Mitti Attar Baked dry earth

Anbar Secreted by
Whales
Rationale
● India has a rich tradition of natural perfumes
and is naturally well endowed with botanical
sources required for the same.
● If awareness could be generated among
Indians about indigenous fragrances , it could
lead to renewed interest in traditional
perfumery,thus incentivizing growth of Ittar
industry.
● Presently, India’s perfume market is being
dominated by foreign firms who themselves
import natural ingredients from India
● India’s traditional perfume/ Attar industry is
largely unorganized. Highlighting the
importance and potential of it could possibly
lead to Government support .
Aims & Objectives
 ● Understanding India’s culture

Aims and against the backdrop of natural

objectives fragrances
● Putting natural fragrances of India
on national tourism map with the
intent to encourage fragrance
tourism
 ● Spreading awareness
Aims and regarding the advantages of
objectives natural fragrances through
the social media
Literature Review
Author’s Name Topic Remarks Source

P. K. Gode History of Ambergris in India An Chymia, Vol. 2 (1949),

between about A.D. 700 and anecdote-dominat pp. 51-56
1900 ed historical
account of
ambergris in india

P. K. Dutta, H. O. Kewda Perfume Industry in India A holistic Economic Botany, Vol.

Saxena and M. assessment of 41, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep.,
Brahmam kewda industry 1987), pp. 403-410

Anon. Draft policy for sustainable Documents recent Ministry of environment

utilisation of agarwood(2014) governmental and forests
efforts and plans
for sustainable
agar production
Author’s Name Topic Remarks Source

Maria Thomas Jasmine, Pepper, Chai: A foreign www.qz.com

The Fragrances of India, account of
Bottled Exclusively for indigenous
You flavours.

Mike Ives In India, Perfumes That An account of www.nytimes.co

Smell ‘Like Home’ a native m
family that
has been
selling attars.

Roopa Suchak The Threat to India’s A warning www.bbc.com

Traditional Perfume about the
Industry threats faced
by the
industry.
Research Methodology
● First, a secondary research of fragrant botanical
resources, relevant culture & history and the
present condition of attar industry has been done
● Followed by a primary source interview-aided
research was undertaken for the purposes of an
economic study.
Work Done
● Acquainted ourselves with the historical,
cultural and economic fabric into which
our traditional fragrances have been
interwoven, through literature review
●
● Made an informative booklet on Indian
fragrances.
● Learned and
created map
locating
fragrances on a
map of india in
GIS
Social Intervention
● To create awareness among people of the
benefits of using natural fragrances.
● To promote the use of natural perfumes
among the masses.
● Putting the indigenous natural fragrances
on the map of India
Limitations
● Since there is a dearth of literature on this
topic we found it hard to find qualitative
literature .
● Largely unresponsive attitude of
consumers to this industry
References
● Singh, Nagendra Kr; Mabud Khan, Abdul
(2001). Encyclopaedia of the World Muslims:
Tribes, Castes and Communities, Volume 1.
Global Vision Pub House. p. 89.
● López-Sampson, Arlene; Page, Tony
(2018-03-20). "History of Use and Trade of
Agarwood". Economic Botany: 1–23.
● "Ambergris". Britannica. Retrieved 31
January 2013.
● "Jasminum". Index Nominum Genericorum.
International Association for Plant
Taxonomy. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
● "Saffron – Definition and More".
Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 21 November
2012.
● "Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
musk". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved
2007-04-07.
● http://www.rediff.com/money/special/pix-
how-mumbais-oldest-ittar-market-is-keep
ing-its-business-alive/20150511.htm
● https://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Sanda
lwood-33.html
● http://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/crop-pro
duction/package-of-practices/flowers/jas
mine#section-2
● https://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Saffr
on-55.html
● https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/T
ola/Anbar-18939.html
THANK YOU!