How this Indian perfumer is working hard to preserve Kannauj's ancient legacy of scents

It is often said that one of the greatest joys in life is doing what you love. And this is a philosophy eighth generation perfumer Pranav Kapoor follows to the tee. Apart from being an expert perfumer, Pranav is trained in culinary arts and has been passionately working towards preserving and showcasing Kannauj’s ancient legacy of perfumery to the world. Through his niche venture of perfume tourism, he aims to put Kannauj and India on the fragrance map of the world.

Kannauj, the perfume capital of India

An ancient city steeped in history, Kannauj is located just over 120 km from the capital city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. It dates back several centuries and was an integral part of the Gupta empire. It subsequently came under the Vardhana dynasty whose famous emperor Harshavardhana made Kannauj the capital of the whole of North India. “The art of perfumery in the city is several centuries old. Kannauj has played host to the Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang who, under Harshavardhana’s rule, was invited as a guest. The perfume industry of Kannauj finds mention in the works of Tsang as well as that of Banabhatta who was a 7th century poet in the court of Harshavardhana. Their works record the production of sandalwood and rose in the region and mention how certain areas of the region were lined with sandalwood trees,” says Pranav Kapoor whose family has been into perfumery for over 200 years.

Kannauj, which is situated on the banks of the Ganges, has always been blessed with fertile soil, which is conducive for the cultivation of flowers and herbs. As time progressed, the city came under the Mughal rule whose kings were patrons of the famous Kannauj rose. Further, Kannauj is famous for the ‘mitti attar’, which is the unique fragrance of parched earth after the first rains. “The ‘mitti attar’ in Kannauj is being made for centuries now. Earlier, the artisans used to collect mud from the Ganges basin after the first showers and distill that. Today, however, we use clay pots that have been made using the same mud to capture the scent of the rain,” adds Pranav. Apart from rose and jasmine, the native perfumes of Kannauj include gul heena, kewra, khus (vetiver), nagarmotha (cypriol), sugandhmantri, kapoor kachri and morpankhi.

Disappearing profession

According to Pranav, Kannauj has around 200 registered perfume firms but only about 20–25 of them are into distilling using the traditional technique. The rest usually practise modern techniques or just do trading. He further adds that the market for these perfumes is global as fragrances are used not only in the perfume industry but also by the FMCG sector. While Kannauj perfumes were accorded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2014, competition from alcohol-based perfumes, difficulty in sourcing raw materials like sandalwood, high costs and the depleting number of people practising the traditional method of distillation have caused this ancient profession to slowly fade from the cultural landscape of the city.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com