A heady cocktail of scents fills the air as one enters the narrow lanes of the historic city of Kannauj, the perfume capital of India in Uttar Pradesh state.
But one smell stands out – petrichor, the earthy redolence of the first rains on dry soil that perfumers in the city capture in tiny bottles.
From poets to farmers desperately waiting for rain to feed their crops, the pleasant smell resonates with a wide variety of people awaiting the joy of relief from the hot Indian summers.
Perfumers in Kannauj have tapped into this emotion and mastered the art of bottling this soothing scent in an oil-based fragrance called "mitti attar".
Mitti means soil in Urdu and attar means perfume in Persian.
The town of 2.3 million, about 120km from the state capital Lucknow, is home to an attar cottage industry.
From rose, jasmine and sandalwood to oud, musk and saffron, about 350 small, medium and large perfumeries make attars following a centuries-old process, in huge large copper cauldrons using flowers, clay and oils distilled in water over wood fires.
There are about 400 attar perfumeries in the city but only 10 per cent of them make the mitti attar, according to the government-run Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre.
Gaurav Mehrotra, a third-generation perfumer, operates one of them.
His grandfather started Puja Perfumery about 45 years ago, he says, and the family still produces the perfume in a unit behind his home in Kannauj.
While the history of attar goes back about 60,000 years, the fragrant oils were made popular during the time of the Mughals, the Muslims who ruled the subcontinent for about 300 years, starting in the late 15th century.
The rulers and their queens were known to have used attar to keep their minds fresh and bodies scented in the hot climate.
With modernisation and globalisation, Indians were exposed to synthetic perfumes and global brands that led to a decline in the popularity and sales of attar.
But Mr Mehrotra says that with awareness and growing interest in natural products, more people, particularly women and customers from abroad, are buying attar, especially the mitti attar.
The natural perfume is used as a fragrance, an air freshener, an essential oil, and in aromatherapy, because of its soothing smell.
There has also been a growing demand from abroad, including countries such as the US, UK, Europe and Japan, the perfumer said.
“It was made earlier also but in the last five to 10 years, its popularity has grown manifold," Mr Mehrotra said.
"Women particularly like it because of its subtle fragrance. Foreigners also like it because it is natural and traditional."
While the perfume smells of rain, the monsoon is the most unsuitable month for making it.
The process involves baking clay extracted from topsoil, which during the rainy season can lose its natural smell because of an excess of moisture.
Painstaking process
Making mitti attar is a painstaking, time-consuming process.
Perfumers use unglazed clay that is extracted from the topsoil and baked in a kiln, often sourced from local potters.
It is then crushed and thrown into a "deg" – a traditional large copper cauldron – and sealed with a lid using clay.
The cauldron is kept on a furnace made of bricks and clay, and fuelled by firewood or coal.
A bamboo pipe leads from the cauldron to a "bhapka" – a receiving vessel with a long neck and round belly, also made of copper, that is kept in a cooling tank of water and acts as a condenser. It holds liquid paraffin as a base oil.
As the cauldron boils, the vapour from the vessel passes through the bamboo to the receiver.
The fire is kept burning for a few hours after which the first distillate is transferred to an empty copper pot and distilled again. The mitti attar is extracted in the second distillation.
The process is called hydro-distillation. The longer the process, the stronger the perfume is, Mr Mehrotra said.
“We use raw, broken clay," he said. "We start with 20kg of clay and add 40kg of water for steam. The receiver already has a base oil such as sandalwood or carrier oil.
"The process continues. We throw the used clay and add a new batch and double the water. The process continues for two to three months."
Once extracted, the perfume is stored in pouches made of camel leather, which absorb the moisture and further concentrate the fragrance.
The perfumes are priced according to their quality and strength. Sandalwood base oil costs a lot more than liquid paraffin, for example, Mr Mehrotra said.
“The price of a bottle can vary from 40 rupee [about 50 cents] to 1,000 rupee for 10ml, depending on the base oil used,” he said.
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
Results
ATP Dubai Championships on Monday (x indicates seed):
First round
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x4) 6-4, 6-1
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x7) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses
TO%20CATCH%20A%20KILLER
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDamian%20Szifron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shailene%20Woodley%2C%20Ben%20Mendelsohn%2C%20Ralph%20Ineson%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Palestine and Israel - live updates
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
SPECS
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
