Kannauj/Delhi: Nothing stays longer in reminiscence than a pleasant perfume. This bears true to the town of Kannauj, one of many oldest hubs of manufacturing fragrance or itr, which bottles the aroma of rain on earth – together with different scents related to numerous Indian traditions.
The look of dusty roads, placid bovines and zigzag visitors would possibly seem uncomfortable to one, however a stroll inside the traditional metropolis, which is a six-hour drive from New Delhi, has a soothing impact on the soul with lingering scents of all types hold the air fragrant – thanks to the fragrance business alongside the lanes and bylanes of the district.
Located close to the confluence of the Kali and Ganga rivers, Kannauj has been distilling ‘itr’ for hundreds of years now with flowers, corresponding to jasmine, rose, bela, and so on. and herbs like kapoor kachri (spiked ginger lily), nagarmotha (nut grass), brahmi (waterhyssop), sugandhbala (Indian valerian), kachri (wild number of cucumber), sugandh mantri (homalomena aromatica), cardamom, clove, camphor, and so on.
The ‘itr’ made right here is wealthy, with none dilution. Unlike alcohol-based perfumes, the perfume is heavier however quieter, and lasts longer.
The historical past of ‘itr’ manufacturing within the district is traced to the reign of Harshavardhana, who belongs to the Vardhana dynasty and dominated North India between 606 and 647 AD. But the business bought a lift in the course of the rule of the Mughals. There is a well-liked anecdote that Asmat Begum, the mom of Mughal queen Noor Jahan, first realised that oil could be extracted from rose petals after she noticed the flower leaving oily residue over heat tub water. Emperor Jehangir, too, is claimed to have written about his mother-in-law extracting rose attar.
The city nonetheless makes use of the normal and largely eco-friendly strategies of perfume extraction from flower petals by steaming and distillation. No electrical energy or heavy equipment is used on this course of. This is known as the ‘degh bhapka’ technique.
In this course of, flower petals are boiled in massive copper pots known as ‘deghs’. During the boiling, the deghs are sealed with clay to make sure the aromatic vapour doesn’t go waste within the air. The fumes are made to cross by a funnel, which is known as ‘chonga’, and enter one other container known as ‘bhapka’. The bhapka accommodates water and base or important oil product of sandal, liquid dioctyl phthalate (DOP — a solvent chemical). The water helps the vapour get condensed contained in the dhapka. The base or important oil, which has no odour of its personal, holds the perfume by absorbing the condensing liquid.
To give the combination a special perfume, it’s blended with kesar (saffron), musk, oud, camphor and so on, accordingly.
Notably, the temperature has an important function to play right here. If the ‘degh’ is just too sizzling, the perfume of delicate petals will get destroyed. And if the ‘bhapka’ will not be cool sufficient, the fumes is not going to condense in time. There isn’t any mounted formulation to guarantee all this, and staff depend on the information they’ve inherited from their forefathers.
There are two varieties of the condensed vapour — rooh and kyora oil or kyora sandali. For extraction of the previous, no base oil is used. Flower petals are put within the ‘degh’ and faucet water is poured in a sure amount. It is boiled and the vapour is collected, following the identical course of. With steam, the flower petals secret oil which is collected within the ‘dhapka’. This oil is known as ‘rooh’, which is the purest type of ‘itr’ and may be very expensive, as 5 quintals of flower petals secrete solely 10-15 gram of ‘rooh’.
Later, the ‘rooh’ is diluted with base oil maintaining in thoughts the costs provided.
Kannauj metropolis is exclusive for bottling ‘mitti ka itr’ (the scent of soil) — a nice odor that ceaselessly accompanies the primary rain after a protracted interval of heat and dry climate.
A producer, requesting anonymity due to large-scale raids being carried out by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department, mentioned Kannuaj’s ‘itr’ doesn’t used alcohol. It makes the scent inger longer.
When requested why the normal strategies are used even on this period of leading edge know-how, he mentioned the purity of product could be compromised with modernisation of the business. For instance, he mentioned, if copper was changed with another substitute, there was a risk of the petals sticking to the floor of the vessel, and which will kill the perfume with the odor of burning.
Similarly, iron will rust and intervene with the perfume. “Our perfume-making is a exact artwork which requires human intelligence. It can’t be completely mechanised,” he added.
The delicate strategy of extraction is in tune with the cycle of seasons, the climate and the soil. ‘Shamama’ (a mix of heat spices and herbs) and ‘khus’ (vetiver) are produced in winters. Summer is for ‘mitti ka itr’ as a result of the soil is dry on this season. Only desi (domestically grown) pink roses are used right here as a result of it’s the very aromatic. Jasmine can solely be picked at night time. The time distinction between the plucking of flowers and the extraction of perfume can impression the standard of ‘itr’.
STRUGGLE TO RETAIN TRADITION, GLORY
The Kannauj ‘itr’ business is estimated price over Rs 1,200 crore. Around 80% of the district’s inhabitants is straight or not directly concerned within the business. However, the business is dealing with a number of challenges, the primary one being its dependence on pure elements.
“There is eighteen% GST (items and providers tax) on the bottom oil. The commerce of sandalwood can also be closely regulated. With the unprecedented hike in diesel costs, the price of different uncooked supplies, corresponding to DOP, HLP, DEP, and so on. have grown two-fold, however the costs of the ultimate product is sort of similar, as it’s already too excessive and can’t be elevated additional. Around 5 grams of ‘rooh’ is extracted from 40 kg of roses and it sells for round Rs 9 lakh per kg. It takes 80 kg of vetiver to produce 50gm ‘rooh’. Musk or ‘kastoori’ is extracted from the navel of the musk deer, whose looking is banned. We purchase ‘kastoori’ at authorities auctions, the place it sells for Rs 42 lakh per kg,” mentioned the producers.
‘Itr’ is now dealing with robust competitors from the less expensive artificial perfumes. Therefore, the producers are now shifting to the aromatherapy business that produces important oils, shampoo and soaps. The gutkha/paan masala business has emerged as the most important client of Kannauj’s ‘itr’ business. They manufacture the scents synthetically, however nonetheless search for pure merchandise for flavour and texture.
This emphasis on uncooked supplies can also be a motive why the business has not taken to e-commerce platforms in an enormous manner. “On mass e-platforms like Amazon, there isn’t a screening for high quality. Our merchandise have to compete with artificial substitutes of comparable names, clearly promoting at far decrease costs,” they mentioned.
The authorities has rolled out a number of schemes to increase the business, however “not a lot are seen on the bottom.”
One such scheme is ODOP (one district, one product). This was began with the view to making small-scale business staff ‘atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant). It was tasked with aiding medium, small and micro enterprises in promoting their merchandise on-line on a bigger scale. But the scheme doesn’t appear to be reaching the precise beneficiaries.
Majority of ’itr’ producers in addition to merchants this correspondent spoke to mentioned the scheme has “largely failed to obtain its goal of empowering small industries”.
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