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Today, gutka/pan masala flavouring forms the core of their business.įragrances are used in both cosmetics and food, therefore they are a part of our consumption on a daily basis. Indeed, the industry isn’t going away but changing form. “Some might say that the industry is dying but we were surprised by the optimism of people we met, who didn’t think this industry was going away,” says Sfirri. The fact that it was just a room below a computer training centre is symbolic of how Kannauj is torn between two extremes – tradition and modernisation, craft and technology. There were bigger factories in Kannauj but Sfirri and Ehermann chose Mishra because it was more intimate. “Kannauj has been mentioned time and again in history – Huan Tsang has spoken about how perfumery was used all across North India and Ptolemy has specifically mentioned about aromatics in Kannauj.” So great was the city’s affiliation with attar-making that King Harvardhan under his rule called it Kusumpura - the city of flowers. “In fact, the first discovery of fragrance-making material – for distillation and storage - was in the Indus Valley Civilisation.” Marwah explains that initially aromatic waters were created to be part of the offering to god, subsequently worn as perfume. Even today we can see remnants of old-school fragrance-making still in fragrance factories of Jaunpur, Benaras and Ghazipur that were earlier a part of this kingdom. “Not many know that Kannauj wasn’t just one city but the entire North India, which was called the kingdom of Kannauj under King Harshvardhan around 600 CE,” says Dr Jyoti Marwah, founder, Mussorie Fragrance and Flowers Institute. This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.