History of Indian perfumes in the air at the Bangalore International Centre

Nearly every aspect of the history of the perfume trade is examined – from the ancient Sanskrit terms used to describe the various types of fragrance, or the traditional camel-hide kuppis used to store itrs or oil-based perfumes. (Express Photo by Arnav Chandrasekhar)

These aspects of perfumery often projected into different parts of Indian culture, such as the literary sphere – for instance, the same company that published the works of Hindi poet Suryakant Tripathi (pen name Nirala) also produced a scented hair oil. Writers such as Bankim Chattopadhyay had also written testimonials in favour of hair oils.

As visitors to the exhibit may note, a certain fragrance hangs in the air. This comes from dozens of glass vials suspended in the room, containing a perfume composed of vetiver root (known as khus in India) and mitti attar.

All of these are also examined in detail in a book titled Histories of Indian Perfume, published by Marg. A reader can expect to see details ranging from the social hierarchy of a master perfumer in 19th-century Hyderabad to a description of incense from the pen of the 12th-century Chalukya king Someshvara III.

The exhibition will wind up on Saturday with a guided walk at 1 pm with speakers including James McHugh, Professor at the University of Southern California, veteran Bengaluru-based perfumer Ahalya Matthan, and perfumer-anthropologist Giti Datt.