A whiff of the past

Attar, continues to be in use today, with different Muslim communities using unique concoctions for ritual purposes, and Indian attar-wallahs manufacture incense and distil attar for festivals such as Id and Muharram. Bohras burn bakhur during festivals, Sudani muslims use a heavy incense called mahalad, and Arab muslims use nakhla, an incense manufactured from crushed sea-shells, in their ceremonies. All these mixtures are distilled and made in India, says Ahsan Hami of A Hami Bros Manufacturing Perfumers, which supplies to the palaces of the Gulf Emirates, and maintain one of the oldest and best-known shops on Mohammed Ali Road. Hami Bros distil all of their attar on the premises, and Ahsan speaks proudly of his great-great grandfather, a hakim in Udaipur well-versed in herbal cures, whose son came to Mumbai in 1939 and established his firm, now headed by Ahsan’s father Abbas. Ahsan has done a course in perfumery from UDCT Mumbai, and the firm has recently opened a shop in Dubai to serve a large clientele in the Gulf. In the hot summer months, floral mixtures such as jasmine, kewda and gulab prevail.

Traditionally, the petals of these flowers need to be collected at sunrise when they are still dewy and most fragrant. They are then transported to a distillery where they are crushed into a paste that is either burnt or boiled. The condensed vapours are what form the essence of any attar, and subsequent distillations and mixtures produce compounds of various scents. The first distillation is always the most prized, and hence the most expensive.

Chandan, made from Karnataka sandalwood and one of the most popular fragrances in India, remains in use throughout the year, not only in attar, but in soaps and agarbatti. Khus, made from special grass and roots found in Rajasthan, is a light fragrance with a dark green colour. For Id, the attarwallahs of Mohammed Ali Road stock extra quantities of a scent called majma or majumua, with some shops boasting their own distillations of this compound mixture.

In the winter months, ambar, shamaama and hina are the seasonal attars. Shamaama, made from a wood found in Kanauj, is effective in combating colds. Hina is distilled from deers’ navels, which emit a powerful and seductive odour to attract partners during the mating season. Due to the Animal Protection Act, production of hina is illegal, and many synthetic and herbal reproductions have since taken its place.

One of the most expensive attars — and one recommended as an aphrodisiac by Mohammed Zakir of Minar Perfumers, Memonwada Road — is ood, made from a tree bark found in Assam, which ranges from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per tola. Like other traditional attars, ood too, is more popular in synthetic reproduction than in the original.

Laughing to himself at the paradoxes of modern consumerism, Mohammed Zakir details how Indians have in the past several years developed an affinity for synthetic and chemically-based perfumes from the West, while Westerners now visit India to purchase natural attars for aroma therapy and various new-age cures.

Though the attarwallahs of Mohammed Ali Road universally lament the consumer trends which threaten their livelihood, Ahsan Hami expresses optimism. Muslim society, he says, has always preferred natural scents to chemical concoctions, and his community in India and abroad will continue to support the age-old practices of the trade.