Kannauj is the only place where the largest amount of Ittar is manufactured naturally in the entire world.
80% of the population living here is a part of Ittar manufacturing industry.
Ittar is derived from the Persian word, 'atr' meaning 'fragrance'
How did this culture start in this city ?
According to history, the empress of the Mughal dynasty, Noor Jahan loved perfumes. Two people from Kannauj had
made a long lasting perfume for her. The synthetic perfumes having a chemical combination are being manufactured in large scale, but the traditional process of preparing perfume in Kannauj never got outdated.
People have been manufacturing perfume since 5000 years, no changes have been made in the process.
In Kannauj perfumes are made with the help of a hydro-distillation process, Nickel plated copper vessels are used, flowers are soaked in water and heated in containers, condenser is filled with oil, vapours pass through bamboo pipes
into the condenser, the oil present in the condenser absorbs the vapors fragrance. This process goes for around five hours then excess water is separated from the oil after the condenser cools down. As per the quality of perfume, this process is repeated until 30 days.
Six types of perfumes are made in Kannauj, comprising of Rose, Henna, Shamam Henna, Jasmine, Bela, Mogra, etc. and a fragrance this place is famous for is Mud Perfume which is also used in cosmetics and medicines.
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Video sourced from History Channel
Time : 7:00 to 12:00