Brisk biz at attar stores across city

Ramzan is peak season for traditional perfume stores across Bengaluru. They get their stocks from their own production units, and from sources abroad.

Traditional perfume stores, with their array of Indian and imported attars, do brisk business during the festive month of Ramzan. Metrolife visited four attar stores to capture the festive spirit. Business goes up during the month, every year.

Ajmal Perfumes, Commercial Street

Everybody who wears attar in Bengaluru is familiar with the store. Founded in 1950, the store gets its stocks from a production centre in Mumbai. The store manager says Ramzan is the peak business season. “It is believed wise men know how attar, if used correctly, not only helps them smell good but also sweetens the environment,” says its manager Mahmud-Ur-Rahman. The starting price of perfume here is Rs 400. The most expensive perfume here is Oud Desire, which retails for Rs 20,000.
Contact: 9731548565

Teeb, Fraser Town (near Hajee Sir Ismail Sait mosque)

A UAE-based company, Teeb is more premium than most stores in Bengaluru. With all stocks coming from UAE, Teeb promises the authenticity of the Arabian perfumes. Many customers are Arab, and the store executive says business dips a bit during Ramzan as many migrate back home for the holy month. The most expensive perfume here is called Hindimalkin Super which retails for Rs 40,000 for 12 ml. The store also sells Oud Wood and spirit-based perfumes as well.
Contact: 43741155

Rayyan, Coles Road (near Dominos)

The store shares its building with a pizza parlour, but it is the fragrance of the attar that dominates that street. All perfumes here are sourced from Assam and Dubai. The subtle fragrances are meant for men, while the bolder, more floral ones are meant for women. In addition, women have an array of products to choose from: body mists, face packs and skin care products. Dehnanoor is the most expensive attar here. It retails for Rs 30,000.
Contact: 42115727

Al-Madina, Banerghatta Road (near Bilal mosque)

Many throng here from Jayanagar, Gurappana Palya and BTM Layout. “They believe attar is part of the festive routine,” says Mohammad Khalid Saifulla, owner of the store. Perfumes are sourced from a factory on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The most expensive attar at this store is white musk rose, retailing for Rs 4,500 for 12 ml. The store prides itself on serving the less well-to-do as well, and its offerings begin at Rs 400. The shop is run by the Mohammad family, and has been in business since 2014.
Contact: 9916435075

Popular attars

- Musk (produced by a male Himalayan deer)

- Oud (an expensive wood grown in the Arabian peninsula)

- Sandalwood (aromatic wood grown in the Mysuru region)

- Also oils extracted from rose, henna, and jasmine.

Indians, Arabs love it

Attar is not just fragrance; it is believed to have medicinal, healing powers. The Greeks use it extensively: fragrance, they say, attracts good energy and reduces bad energy in a person or place. Sufi dance routines and meditation cycles don’t take place without a sprinkling of attar. Attar has also found its way into the Hindu tradition as well. New clothes are sprinkled with attar before they are placed over a deity. Attar is most popular in the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian peninsula.

What’s attar made of?

Attar (also called ittar) is a concentrated perfume oil made from botanical sources.

How to apply it

Traditionally, attar is applied to the pulse points of the hand, the neck and the collar bone.

Attar now comes in bottles with rollers, and you can apply it on your clothes as well.