Hyderabad: In the busy lanes of Charminar, Hyderabad’s perfume legacy still lingers in the air but the way it is made and sold has changed. Once a proud tradition rooted in local craftsmanship, attar, the natural perfume made from flowers and herbs, is now rarely produced in the city. Most shops have turned to sourcing oils and essences from other places instead of making them from scratch.
Several attar sellers, who run shops at Charminar, said it is hardly made locally in the city. “Attar is hardly made here anymore,” said a perfume seller at Charminar. “We bring it from outside and sell it. I don’t make it myself anymore either.”
The seller further added that business is not the same as it used to be. “Earlier, many customers would walk in throughout the day, and sales used to be very high. But now, even by noon, I haven’t made a sale. The market is full of synthetic scents, and online competition is tough,” the seller said.
There are still some shops, however, who still respect the traditional methods and make attar. Syed Meajid, who runs a perfume shop in front of Makkah Masjid, said he sources pure oils from other Indian cities, especially Kannauj, and customises perfumes based on customer preferences.
“I have around 500 to 600 types of essences,” he said while speaking to Deccan Chronicle. “We blend them to make natural attar, essential oils, and aromatic perfumes. The most popular scents are rose, jasmine, and sandalwood. We also make modern blends like Lucky Man, which is very popular among youth”, he added.
According to Meajid, real attar takes time and skill. “Making attar is an art of patience. We need 10 kgs of flower petals just to produce just 250 grams of pure essence,” he said.
This kind of craft, however, is getting rare, as synthetic perfumes, which are made using chemical solvents like DPG (dipropylene glycol) and DEG (diethylene glycol) dominate the market. “They are cheaper and available widely, but the scent doesn’t last as long, and they don’t have the soul that natural attar has,” he adds.
He sells a six-millilitre bottle of attar for around `100. While some consider it costly, he believes it offers better quality. “There’s no alcohol or gas in attar. The fragrance stays longer. You just need to apply it the right way on your palms, rub them together, and then gently apply it to your clothes”, he added.
Still, the industry faces serious challenges. Natural flower prices have gone up, and making attar is now more expensive.
“During the time of the Nizams, this was a respected art. The attar made in Hyderabad was revered across the world. But today, even the flowers are costly, and young people are not interested in learning. It took me 12 years to master this skill. Now, very few people are willing to put in that kind of effort,” said Meajid.
Despite these difficulties, Syed manages to sell perfumes worth Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 a day. Most of his buyers come for weddings, religious events, or as gifts. Interestingly, many of his customers are young adults, and he said they are more interested in real fragrance than the older generation.
Some customers still value natural attar and search for authentic shops at Charminar. One buyer, Prajwal Singh, said “I love the smell of rose, so I came here especially for that. It’s a little expensive and finishes quickly, but it does not come close to what natural attar smells like.”
Another customer added, “Nowadays, many shops sell attar and claim it is real. It’s very hard to tell the difference, unless you know how to smell it.”
Today, the real attar of Hyderabad once made with care in local homes and small factories is mostly brought in from other places and only sold here. Instead of being made by the city, much of it is now only being sold in it.
The scent of Hyderabad’s past still exists just not in the way it once did.