What I learned while sourcing fragrance in Varanasi, India
Walk into an Indian fragrance shop and the first thing you notice may be the bottles.
Rows of glass decanters filled with amber, gold, ruby, green and nearly clear oils. Tiny bottles lined up for sampling. Larger containers behind the counter. Some fragrances smell immediately familiar—rose, jasmine, sandalwood. Others are smoky, earthy, resinous or difficult to describe at all.
That was part of my experience while sourcing in Varanasi.
And it also made something very clear to me: not every concentrated perfume oil is an attar, and not everything sold as an attar is made in exactly the same way.
The words are sometimes used loosely, especially in retail, but the traditions behind them are much more interesting than a label on a bottle.
So What Is an Attar?
Attar—also written itr or ittar—is a concentrated form of perfume with a long history across South Asia and the broader Islamic world.
Traditional Indian attar making is particularly associated with Kannauj, in Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s historic perfume centers.
There, aromatic materials such as flowers, grasses, roots, spices and even fragrant clay can be hydro-distilled using traditional copper equipment.
Historically, some of the finest attars were distilled into sandalwood oil, which acts as both the receiving base and part of the finished fragrance.
That distinction matters.
A traditionally made attar is not simply essential oil mixed into a carrier after distillation. The aromatic material can be captured into the receiving oil during the distillation process itself.
At the same time, I would be careful with the idea that “attar” automatically means “100% natural.”
Modern products sold as attars can use different bases, natural and synthetic fragrance materials, or combinations of both.
So rather than asking only:
“Is this an attar?”
I think the better questions are:
How was it made? What is in the base? Where did it come from? And who made it?
Traditional-style perfume bottles containing colored fragrance oils in a Varanasi shop
The bottles may look similar, but the oils inside can come from very different methods and materials.
Attar and Fragrance Oil Are Not the Same Thing
Modern fragrance oils are generally created by blending aromatic materials.
Those materials may include natural extracts, isolated aromatic compounds, synthetic fragrance ingredients or combinations of them.
A carrier such as DPG may also be used.
That does not automatically make a fragrance oil “bad” or an attar “good.”
They are simply different approaches to fragrance.
A modern fragrance oil can be beautifully composed and very consistent from bottle to bottle.
A traditionally distilled attar may reflect its botanical material, distillation, base oil and maturation more strongly.
And sometimes the lines are not perfectly neat.
That is one of the things I noticed while sourcing: traditional-style attars, contemporary perfume oils, concentrated aromatic blends and other fragrance materials can all sit side by side in the same shop.
You cannot always tell what something is just by looking at the bottle.
Inside a Varanasi fragrance shop during our 2026 Namaste Nook sourcing trip.
Kannauj and the Traditional Indian Attar Craft
Although my sourcing visit shown here was in Varanasi, the traditional perfume craft most closely associated with Indian attar production is centered in Kannauj, also in Uttar Pradesh.
Kannauj has been associated with perfume making for centuries.
One of its best-known traditional techniques is the deg-bhapka method, a form of hydro-distillation using copper vessels.
The equipment sounds simple.
The skill behind it is anything but.
The Deg
The deg is the copper still.
Flowers, grasses, roots, herbs, spices or other aromatic material are placed inside with water.
The still is then sealed before heating.
The Sarpos
The lid placed over the deg is called the sarpos.
Traditionally, the vessel is sealed carefully so precious aromatic steam does not escape.
The Chonga
The chonga connects the still to the receiving vessel.
Traditionally this has been made from bamboo.
The aromatic vapor travels through it after leaving the heated deg.
The Bhapka
The bhapka is the receiving vessel.
It is kept cool so that the aromatic steam entering from the deg condenses.
When producing a traditional attar, the receiving vessel may contain sandalwood oil or another base that gradually absorbs the aromatic material.
The Bhatti
The bhatti is the furnace below the still.
Controlling the heat is part of the distiller’s craft.
Too much heat, too little heat, or poor timing can change the result.
This is one reason traditional perfume making cannot really be reduced to a recipe.
There is technique involved.
How a Traditional Attar Is Made
The details vary with the botanical and the maker, but the process generally begins with aromatic material and water inside the deg.
As the water heats, steam lifts volatile aromatic molecules from the plant material.
The vapor moves through the chonga into the cooled bhapka.
There it condenses.
When a receiving oil is being used, the aroma is gradually absorbed into it.
For some attars, fresh botanical material may be distilled repeatedly so that the fragrance becomes increasingly concentrated.
Afterward, the finished perfume may be allowed to rest or mature.
Like many complex fragrances, it can become rounder and more integrated with time.
Sometimes the Ingredient Is a Flower.
Rose.
Jasmine.
Mogra.
Kewra.
Sometimes it is grass or roots.
And sometimes it is literally earth.
Mitti Attar: The Smell of Rain on Dry Ground
One of the most fascinating traditional Indian fragrances is Mitti Attar.
Mitti means earth.
Pieces of baked clay are distilled to capture an aroma reminiscent of the smell released when the first rain falls onto dry soil.
Today we commonly describe that smell as petrichor.
Long before that scientific word entered everyday vocabulary, Indian perfumers were finding ways to preserve something remarkably similar inside a bottle.
That is the kind of thing that makes traditional fragrance so interesting to me.
It isn't simply about smelling “pretty.”
Sometimes it is about capturing a place or a memory.
Amber, yellow and red perfume oils displayed in clear glass decanters in Varanasi
Indian perfumery can include flowers, woods, roots, spices, grasses and even the scent associated with rain on dry earth.
Attar and Ruh Are Related—but Not Identical
Another word you may encounter is ruh.
It belongs to the same world of traditional aromatic distillation, but it should not automatically be treated as another name for ordinary attar.
A ruh generally refers to a highly concentrated aromatic distillate itself rather than a botanical distilled into a sandalwood-oil base.
Two famous examples are:
Ruh Gulab
A highly concentrated rose distillate.
Ruh Khus
A concentrated distillation of vetiver roots with a deep, green, earthy aroma.
The terminology can vary among makers and sellers, which is another reason provenance matters.
Shamama: When Attar Becomes a Composition
Not every traditional fragrance focuses on a single flower or botanical.
Shamama is a good example.
Traditional Shamama can combine numerous aromatic materials—herbs, spices, roots, flowers and woody ingredients—into a deep, layered fragrance.
Recipes can vary considerably from maker to maker.
Some are closely guarded.
And that reveals another side of traditional perfumery.
It is not simply botanical extraction.
It is also composition.
And Then There Are the Himalayas
India’s perfume tradition is only one part of the aromatic story of South Asia.
Travel farther toward Nepal and the Himalayan regions and the fragrance vocabulary changes.
Here we find traditions built around alpine plants, conifers, roots, woods, resins, medicinal botanicals and incense materials.
I would not call this simply another version of Kannauj attar making.
It is its own aromatic world.
Jatamansi — Spikenard
Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi) is an aromatic Himalayan plant whose underground rhizomes yield a distinctive oil.
Its scent can be earthy, woody, musky and deeply grounding.
Jatamansi has a long history in incense, fragrance and traditional medicinal systems.
It is also a plant for which responsible sourcing matters because wild populations have faced harvesting pressure.
That matters to me.
A beautiful tradition is not really being honored if the plant behind it disappears.
Sugandha Kokila
Sugandha Kokila comes from an aromatic plant associated especially with Nepal.
The fruit can yield an essential oil with a spicy, warm and camphoraceous character.
It is one of those Himalayan aromatic materials whose scent feels very different from the floral world most people associate with perfume.
Sunpati
Sunpati (Rhododendron anthopogon) grows high in the Himalayas.
Its aromatic parts have long been used as incense and can also be distilled.
The fragrance tends toward herbal, resinous and balsamic notes.
Himalayan Juniper
Juniper has an important place in Himalayan aromatic and ritual traditions.
Branches and foliage are burned as incense in Buddhist and other regional practices.
That dry, woody, coniferous smoke is part of the aromatic memory of many Himalayan monasteries, homes and sacred spaces.
Two Aromatic Traditions, Two Different Languages
Kannauj and Himalayan aromatic traditions overlap and influence one another, but they do not smell—or function—exactly the same.
Kannauj is famous for traditional Indian perfumery: rose, jasmine, vetiver, kewra, sandalwood, copper stills and attar.
The Himalayan regions bring another vocabulary: alpine herbs, aromatic roots, conifers, resins and incense plants.
Both remind me that fragrance can tell us much more than whether something smells floral, woody or spicy.
It can tell us:
where a plant grew,
how someone processed it,
what people used it for,
and what culture surrounded it.
What I Learned While Sourcing Fragrance in Varanasi
This is where the subject stopped being academic for me.
During my 2026 sourcing trip in India, I spent time inside a fragrance shop in Varanasi looking at and smelling concentrated oils.
Some were presented as attars.
Others were fragrance or aromatic oils.
There were small bottles ready for customers, larger containers behind the counter, and glass decanters filled with oils in very different colors.
And everything was close together.
Looking at that counter reinforced something I think is worth remembering:
a beautiful bottle does not tell you how the fragrance inside was made.
Neither does a romantic name.
Learning about concentrated fragrance oils directly from a seller during our Varanasi sourcing visit.
Fragrance seller explaining perfume oils inside a shop in Varanasi, India
Talking with a fragrance seller in Varanasi was part of understanding what we were actually selecting—not simply what was written on a bottle.
How I Evaluate an Attar or Fragrance Oil
There are plenty of internet “purity tests” for attars.
I don't put much faith in them.
Whether an oil feels silky, heavy, light or greasy does not prove exactly what is inside it.
Neither does color.
Neither does price by itself.
Instead, I would ask questions.
Who made it?
Where was it made?
What is the base?
Was the fragrance distilled, blended, or both?
Are the aromatic ingredients natural, synthetic, or a combination?
Can the seller explain its provenance?
Those answers are much more useful than trying to judge authenticity from a drop of oil on the wrist.
How to Wear Attar and Concentrated Perfume Oils
You generally need very little.
Apply a small amount to a pulse point such as:
- the inside of the wrist
- the inner elbow
- behind the ears
- along the neck
Then give it some time.
There is no need to rub the fragrance vigorously into the skin.
Let body warmth do the work.
A concentrated oil that seems quiet when first applied may become warmer, softer or more complex after twenty or thirty minutes.
And because perfume reacts differently on different people, smelling it from the bottle and wearing it on the skin can be two very different experiences.
Why Namaste Nook Talks About Provenance
At Namaste Nook, I don't want to attach a traditional-sounding story to an item simply because it makes the product easier to sell.
If something is a modern fragrance oil, I am comfortable calling it a fragrance oil.
If something comes from a traditional craft, I want to understand and explain that tradition accurately.
During sourcing in Varanasi, I saw traditional-style attars, modern perfume oils, concentrated aromatic blends and bulk fragrance materials living side by side.
That experience reinforced the way I want Namaste Nook to operate:
tell you what I know, tell you where something came from when I can, and avoid inventing a history that the item itself cannot support.
Natura India Essential Oil and Aroma sourcing bag from Assi Crossing in Varanasi
One of our fragrance sourcing stops in Varanasi during the 2026 Namaste Nook India trip.
More Than a Bottle of Perfume
The tiny bottles are beautiful.
But they are only the end of the story.
Behind them can be roses collected for distillation, vetiver roots pulled from the earth, sandalwood, copper stills, Himalayan herbs, incense traditions, modern perfumery, family recipes and generations of people learning what heat, time and raw materials can do.
That is what interests me.
Not simply whether a fragrance smells good.
But where it came from and why it smells the way it does.
And when one of these little bottles comes home with me for Namaste Nook, that is the story I want to bring home with it.