The Perfume Project review: A chronicle of the history of fragrance in India

It also puts focus on the people who work to extract the fragrant oils while also highlighting the challenges faced by them. The book is a guided tour into the history of perfumes in India seen through the lens of six fragrances associated with the country.

India is home to some 18,500 varieties of aromatic plants, the volatile oils of which are contained in flowers, leaves, bark, seeds, wood or roots of plants. The people of the subcontinent have always had an intimate relationship with fragrance, whether as an incense offering to higher powers or fragrant waters and oils to create pleasant impressions and impart a perfumed countenance to homes and living spaces.

The author cites the words of the seventh century traveller Huang Tsang about the importance accorded by the people of the region in keeping themselves clean and scented: “They are very particular in their personal cleanliness and allow no remissions in this matter. Every time they perform the functions of nature they wash their bodies and use perfumes of sandalwood or turmeric…”

Journeying to the source

Dhingra delves into writings through the centuries to inform readers about the long practices and traditions in the subcontinent with regard to perfumes. She writes that in early Sanskrit texts like the Gandhasara, a treatise on olfactory aesthetics dating to the 12^th century CE, the science of perfumery is introduced as one that is pertinent to the essential pursuits of life. Referring to a seventh century CE book of short stories, she writes that it has “details woven into the tales about arcana such as the bathwater of princesses, which was ‘mixed with sandalwood, usira (vetiver) and camphor, and kept in gold vessels”.

The six chapters in the book are dedicated to fragrances that have been used in the region for centuries. The author provides a detailed overview of the classical aromas of rose and jasmine, along with the woodsy sandalwood and oud, besides the delicate fragrance of saffron and vetiver. Each chapter not only provides insights about the painstaking process of creating the delicate oils that would go on to take their places in perfumes, but also gives the background information about the areas that produce these aromatic plants.

Dhingra’s travels to the regions where the fragrances are extracted comes alive in the description of the places: the meandering lanes of Kannauj — the place considered to be the centre of perfumery in the country, to the lush forests of the northeast where the resin for oud is extracted, the dewy fields of Pampore with its lavender flowers yielding tiny strips of saffron, to the farms where roses and jasmine are cultivated by small farmers, and the edges of woodlands where vetiver grows without human interference.

Whiffs and whirls: A wide canvas

The author adds a personal touch to the narrative through anecdotes and observations encountered during her research. Drawing a connection between taste and smell, she talks about the scent of saffron and how it evokes memories of her grandmother and her saffron-flavoured phirni. Everyday scents like that of wet earth, tea leaves, henna leaves, flower markets, the smell of khus, falling snow, are juxtaposed against the smells that waft across the streets of towns and cities in the country, providing a wide canvas for olfactory imagination.

Writing about her visits to the Institute of Wood Sciences and Technology in Bengaluru to learn about the much venerated sandalwood tree, Dhingra describes it as a perfect setting to learn about the tree that produces the much desired oil: “Each day, lunch was followed by a spell of rain, which seemed to me the most fitting occurrence in this unusual oasis. The warm showers rendered the greenery, brighter, and lusher. The fat drops of water rhythmically dripping from plate-sized leaves of decorated palms onto the concrete below became the loudest sound. A scant twenty minutes later, sunshine again. And then a cacophony of birds, sun dappled trees — the atmosphere of a wet forest.”

When nature evokes multiple senses through its gift of sweet-smelling flowers, the fragrances hidden from sight or created almost as a second thought through a process of protection or healing are no less mind-blowing. Take the case of the oud, the impossibly heady fragrance hidden within the resin that springs up on agarwood trees when parasitic borer insects attack it. Or the roots of the vetiver containing an oil that repels rats but when distilled yields a fragrant oil lauded for its earthy notes.

The world of perfumery

The author also mentions how the vagaries of weather have a direct link to the fortunes of the perfume industry. The blooming of saffron flowers, connected to fall in temperatures, may get delayed if nature’s temperature coding goes haywire. Erratic rain and snowfall affect the moisture in the soil which, in turn, has an impact on the yield.

In the case of sandalwood oil, poaching of sandalwood trees has severely affected the availability of natural oil, making perfumers resort to chemical substitutes to meet the needs of the industry. And the hurry to harvest, without allowing enough time for nature to develop the oils inside the receptacles designed for the purpose, also affects the quality of extracted oils. In spite of the rich raw materials available in the country, the industry has not been able as yet to reach the heights it should have, keeping in mind its history.

The Perfume Project offers a well-researched and fascinating tour of the art of perfume making in India from ancient to modern times while also touching upon the various handicaps that play a role in the growth of the industry. Dhingra, who has undergone training in perfume making, offers an engaging overview of the types of fragrances besides pointing out the intricate process through which perfumes are constructed. By interspersing technical terminology with her own experience of the fragrances, she helps readers get a broad understanding of the intricate work that goes into the production of different types of perfumes.