What’s so special about Kannauj?

Narrow lanes and expansive imagination

Can you make perfumes in your kitchen?

What is ‘mitti attar’?

Does traditional perfume making have a future?

Kannauj is a sleepy Indian town that has managed to nurture a prized skill for generations.

Synopsis: The Straits Times' foreign editor Bhagyashree Garekar chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe.

They talk about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises. In this episode, she chats with ST's India correspondent Debarshi Dasgupta.

Perfume-making is an ancient tradition in Kannauj, a city by the Ganges river in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Kannauj’s perfume industry flourished for centuries under royal patronage, especially that of the Mughals, who ruled South Asia from the 16th to 19th century.

Cheap foreign perfumes and deodorants, with their heady mix of new fragrances, swamped India from the 1990s, edging out Kannauj’s attars. Now, a new Perfume Tourism initiative launched in March 2023, seeks to revive Kannauj’s lost glory and popularise its products among individual users, allowing tourists to take a deep personalised whiff of Kannauj’s ancient perfume-making tradition, from flower to bottle.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:04 What’s so special about Kannauj?

2:40 Narrow lanes and expansive imagination

4:44 Can you make perfumes in your kitchen; what marks a good perfume 

9:05 What might a Singapore-inspired perfume smell like, if Mr Pranav Kapoor, an eighth-generation perfumer, were commissioned to make it?

12:22 What is ‘mitti attar’? 

14:11 Does traditional perfume making have a future? 

Read Debarshi Dasgupta’s article here: https://str.sg/iw5d

Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis and Fa’izah Sani

Edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Follow Letter From The Bureau Podcast every first Friday of the month on our Asian Insider Podcast channel here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wQsB

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles: https://str.sg/whNo

Read Debarshi Dasgupta's articles:https://str.sg/wtmh

Read ST's Letters From The Bureau: https://str.sg/3xRd

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

---

Special edition series:

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#STAsianInsider

Kannauj is a sleepy Indian town that has managed to nurture a prized skill for generations.
Synopsis: The Straits Times' foreign editor Bhagyashree Garekar chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe.
They talk about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises. In this episode, she chats with ST's India correspondent Debarshi Dasgupta.
Perfume-making is an ancient tradition in Kannauj, a city by the Ganges river in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Kannauj’s perfume industry flourished for centuries under royal patronage, especially that of the Mughals, who ruled South Asia from the 16th to 19th century.
Cheap foreign perfumes and deodorants, with their heady mix of new fragrances, swamped India from the 1990s, edging out Kannauj’s attars. Now, a new Perfume Tourism initiative launched in March 2023, seeks to revive Kannauj’s lost glory and popularise its products among individual users, allowing tourists to take a deep personalised whiff of Kannauj’s ancient perfume-making tradition, from flower to bottle.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:04 What’s so special about Kannauj?
2:40 Narrow lanes and expansive imagination
4:44 Can you make perfumes in your kitchen; what marks a good perfume 
9:05 What might a Singapore-inspired perfume smell like, if Mr Pranav Kapoor, an eighth-generation perfumer, were commissioned to make it?
12:22 What is ‘mitti attar’? 
14:11 Does traditional perfume making have a future? 
Read Debarshi Dasgupta’s article here: <a href="https://str.sg/iw5d">https://str.sg/iw5d</a>
Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (<a href="mailto:bhagya@sph.com.sg">bhagya@sph.com.sg</a>), Ernest Luis and Fa’izah Sani
Edited by: Fa’izah Sani
Follow Letter From The Bureau Podcast every first Friday of the month on our Asian Insider Podcast channel here:
Channel:<a href="https://str.sg/JWa7"> https://str.sg/JWa7</a>
Apple Podcasts:<a href="https://str.sg/JWa8"> https://str.sg/JWa8</a>
Google Podcasts:<a href="https://str.sg/wQsB"> https://str.sg/wQsB</a> 
Spotify:<a href="https://str.sg/JWaX"> https://str.sg/JWaX</a>
SPH Awedio app:<a href="https://www.awedio.sg/"> https://www.awedio.sg/</a>
Website: <a href="http://str.sg/stpodcasts">http://str.sg/stpodcasts</a>
Feedback to: <a href="mailto:podcast@sph.com.sg">podcast@sph.com.sg</a>
Read Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles:<a href="https://str.sg/whNo"> https://str.sg/whNo</a>
Read Debarshi Dasgupta's articles:<a href="https://str.sg/wzce"> </a><a href="https://str.sg/wtmh">https://str.sg/wtmh</a>
Read ST's Letters From The Bureau:<a href="https://str.sg/3xRd"> https://str.sg/3xRd</a>
Register for Asian Insider newsletter:<a href="https://str.sg/stnewsletters"> https://str.sg/stnewsletters</a>
---
Discover more ST podcast channels:
COE Watch: <a href="https://str.sg/iTtE">https://str.sg/iTtE</a>
In Your Opinion:<a href="https://str.sg/w7Qt"> https://str.sg/w7Qt</a>
Asian Insider:<a href="https://str.sg/JWa7"> https://str.sg/JWa7</a>
Health Check:<a href="https://str.sg/JWaN"> https://str.sg/JWaN</a>
Green Pulse:<a href="https://str.sg/JWaf"> https://str.sg/JWaf</a>
Your Money &amp; Career:<a href="https://str.sg/wB2m"> https://str.sg/wB2m</a>
ST Sports Talk:<a href="https://str.sg/JWRE"> https://str.sg/JWRE</a>
#PopVultures:<a href="https://str.sg/JWad"> https://str.sg/JWad</a>
Music Lab:<a href="https://str.sg/w9TX"> https://str.sg/w9TX</a>
Discover ST Podcasts:<a href="http://str.sg/stpodcasts"> http://str.sg/stpodcasts</a>
---
Special edition series:
The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps):<a href="https://str.sg/wuZ2"> https://str.sg/wuZ2</a>
Invisible Asia (9 eps):<a href="https://str.sg/wuZn"> https://str.sg/wuZn</a>
Stop Scams (10 eps):<a href="https://str.sg/wuZB"> https://str.sg/wuZB</a>
Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps):<a href="https://str.sg/wuJa"> https://str.sg/wuJa</a>
---
Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!
#STAsianInsider

Synopsis: Every Friday, get our distinct take on global issues with an Asian perspective, with ST’s globally-based correspondents.

Produced and edited by: Fa'izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

A podcast by The Straits Times, SPH Media.

Synopsis: Every Friday, get our distinct take on global issues with an Asian perspective, with ST’s globally-based correspondents.
Produced and edited by: Fa'izah Sani
Executive producer: Ernest Luis
A podcast by The Straits Times, SPH Media.

Asian Insider

Synopsis: Every Friday, get our distinct take on global issues with an Asian perspective, with ST’s globally-based correspondents.
Produced and edited by: Fa'izah Sani
Executive producer: Ernest Luis
A podcast by The Straits Times, SPH Media.

Advertisement