Inside A 100-Year-Old Attar Factory In Kannauj, That’s Bottling The Scent Of Rain

The single most beautiful moment of the monsoons is also the most elusive—the scent of parched earth meeting rain. Little compares to it. Petrichor—as it’s called, is something that stirs deep within. It’s a warm hug to a lonely soul, a harbinger of nostalgia, a calm moment in a busy day and a muse to poets and writers going as far back as you one can remember. If you’ve always loved that earthy aroma of the rains and wished you had it for yourself, that doesn’t have to be a whim any longer. The ephemeral fragrance is being treasured in traditional attar form at an old factory in Uttar Pradesh. 
Started by Guljarilal Tripathi in 1872, this trade secret is now in the hands of the seventh generation—Abhishek Tripathi, for whom bottling the scent of petrichor and other attars are as much about preserving an heirloom secret, as being part of a family-owned enterprise. On a moody day, with the clouds brewing in an overcast sky and the city turning into a wet canvas, we got him to share more about this legacy of the rains…

ELLE: Your family-owned business, Kannauj Attar, is as much about being an emotion as it is a venture. How did it all begin?

Abhishek Tripathi (AT): Our roots go deep — not just into the soil of Kannauj, but into its soul. Our family has been making attars for over seven generations, with oral records tracing back to the late 1700s. While Mughal Emperor Jahangir is said to be credited with introducing the concept of distilling rose and natural fragrances during his reign in the 16th century, it was during the later Mughal era and the Nawab period that our ancestors began their work. We’ve passed down not just skills but sacred knowledge — how to read a flower, how to hear a scent, how to respect the earth.

ELLE: Talk about tradition! The city has been a perfume-making centre for over 400 years. Has it been easy to hold on to the family business in modern times? 

AT: Not at all. With globalisation, synthetic perfumes, and changing tastes, many families actually left the trade. But we chose to evolve without diluting tradition. There was so much to be done; we modernised packaging, built a website, and educated customers online about real attars. Yet, our distillation method and raw materials remain completely natural. It’s a delicate dance between preserving heritage and embracing innovation — but I think that’s the only way forward.

Generations before us always wondered: If a rose, jasmine, or vetiver can be bottled, why not the earthy smell of rain? It was something they kept trying to understand. And that when they realised: the smell isn’t just in the air— it’s in the soil.

ELLE: Take us into the heart of mitti attar (the scent of rain). What led you to capture it?

AT: Mitti Attar is a fragrance made from baked clay — and it smells exactly like the first rains hitting dry earth. It’s pure nostalgia in a bottle. There’s something so beautiful and poetic about the monsoons, and this is a beautiful metaphor of that. The inspiration was both poetic and practical. Generations before us always wondered: If a rose, jasmine, or vetiver can be bottled, why not the earthy smell of rain? It was something they kept trying to understand. And that when they realised: the smell isn’t just in the air— it’s in the soil. It was time to harness its beauty.

ELLE: Why do you think the scent of rain holds such emotional or nostalgic value for people, especially in India? 

That is because rain is not just weather here — it’s memory, it’s longing, it’s celebration. In villages, it signals life and relief for crops. In larger cities, the season reminds us of childhood, chai-pakoras, and freedom. The earth drinks the rain and releases a scent that’s universal but also deeply Indian. So, when people wear mitti attar, it’s not just perfume — it’s a moment, a feeling, a connection.

ELLE: Is this a natural fragrance? Tell us more about the notes of the perfume. 

AT: The core ingredient is coarse clay from the riverbanks of the Ganga, dried and baked in earthen kilns. It’s then distilled into sandalwood oil — a luxurious fixative base. The top note: earthy freshness, dry and mineral-like; the heart note: damp soil with a faint earthy warmth and the base note is sandalwood — warm, grounding, and creamy. There are no chemicals and no alcohol — just earth and time. 

ELLE: Can you walk us through the traditional attar-making process involved in capturing this scent?

AT: It definitely has a process. First, you collect clay from the riverbanks, which is untouched by chemicals. Then, you dry and bake it in traditional brick kilns until it smells like sunbaked earth. Break larger clays in small parts and boil the baked clay in water inside copper degs. Distill this slowly, the vapour into sandalwood oil using the bhapka. Cool and settle the mixture for 10–12 hours, then repeat the process daily for upto 60 days. It is then time to age the attar- a few weeks to a few months before bottling it.

ELLE: We hear this is made via a traditional attar-making process—deg-bhapka. Do share more about this traditional distillation process.

AT: Deg-bhapka is our traditional copper pot distillation method, unchanged for centuries. There’s a definite way it works. First, the baked clay is added to a deg (copper cauldron) with water. This is then sealed with multani mitti and a cloth and slowly heated over a wood fire. The steam carries the scent to a receiver vessel called the bhapka, filled with sandalwood oil. This setup is cooled constantly with water-soaked cloths, condensing the fragrant vapour into oil. The skilled distillers monitor the fire, smell the vapor, and adjust the process by instinct — it’s an art as much as a science.

ELLE: Is it true that the more that the clay bakes in summer the better the mitti attar is?

AT: Yes! The hotter and drier the clay, the richer its scent when rain falls — and the same principle applies when distilling. Pre-monsoon heat bakes the soil to perfection, enhancing its aromatic profile. It’s nature’s timing — we just listen and follow.

ELLE: How long did it take to develop the perfect formula for the rain scent?

AT: Over decades — even centuries. No one person “invented” mitti attar. It was perfected through generations of trial, patience, and seasonal wisdom. My grandfather often said, “The mitti tells you when it’s ready.” 

ELLE: Did you face any scientific or artistic challenges in bottling such an elusive and delicate fragrance?

AT: Yes, because rain is a feeling — not just a smell. Early batches would smell flat or too muddy. The key was learning when the steam had the right balance of dryness and freshness, and then to carefully allow it to settle into high-grade sandalwood oil without overpowering it. It took a deep sensitivity to do this—you can’t rush nature.

ELLE: How many days does it take for a single bottle of mitti attar to be ready and does the demand for it rise in the monsoons? 

AT: It takes 45–60 days for a deeper scent. From raw clay to final bottle, the process takes over a month for a single batch. The demand for it definitely rises before and during the monsoon. Many want to wear it as the rains arrive. We typically make 200–300 litres in a good season — but due to its labour intensity, we often produce it in limited batches.

ELLE: Kannauj has long been called the ‘perfume capital of India.’ You have to innovate and add contemporary ideas to tradition to keep your legacy going?

AT: Yes, traditional fragrances are hewn into the heart of the city and it’s wonderful that Kannauj Attars have got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Today, we also realise that innovation is key — not in the process, but in how we present and share the story. On our side the learning has been firm: we’ve introduced modern packaging, we are keeping the focus on 100% natural attars, which are rare today and our fragrances are luxury plant based. It’s about moving ahead but with an unchanged tradition and quality. 

ELLE: After the scent of rain, what’s next? 

AT: A lot is on the agenda. We’re experimenting with the ‘Scent of Dusk’—inspired by the smoky twilight of rural evenings, ‘River Breeze’—a light, aquatic blend from riparian herbs and ‘Forest floor’—green, mossy, and deep, made from oakmoss and wild leaves. We believe India’s landscapes are full of fragrant poetry — it’s our job to capture them in a bottle.

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