An attar house, not a perfume factory
Since 1887, Kannauj Attar House has distilled alcohol-free attars by hand in copper degs, in the same courtyard off Bara Bazaar.
Kannauj has been called the attar capital of India for as long as anyone has written about perfume. Lala Daulat Ram opened our courtyard in 1887 with four copper degs, supplying rose and kewda to the perfumers of Lucknow. The house has passed from father to daughter and son for five generations, and we still distil on the same spot.
Every attar we sell is made by deg-bhapka hydro-distillation: flowers, herbs, woods or baked earth are heated with water in a sealed copper deg, and the fragrant steam runs through a bamboo pipe into a bhapka of sandalwood oil cooling in water. The process is repeated, sometimes for weeks, until the oil has drunk in enough scent. It is then rested in leather kuppis, which slowly release the last moisture and round the fragrance.
Nothing is cut with alcohol or dipropylene glycol, and our labels list the base oil plainly. Where pure sandalwood would put an attar out of reach, we say so and use a natural base instead. Every vial carries a batch number that traces back to its distillation date in our register.
- Distilling in Kannauj since
- 1887Distilling in Kannauj since
- One pass of the deg
- 15 hrsOne pass of the deg
- Aged in leather kuppis
- 1 yearAged in leather kuppis
A short history
1887
Four degs off Bara Bazaar
Lala Daulat Ram begins distilling gulab and kewda for the perfumers of Lucknow.
1931
The first mitti
The second generation bakes riverbank clay before the monsoon and distils the smell of first rain.
1974
Shamama, forty ingredients
Our winter blend of herbs, spices and resins, matured for two years, becomes the house signature.
2020
Sent across India
Wax-sealed vials and gift chests travel from the courtyard to every PIN code in the country.
What we hold to
Alcohol-free, always
Pure botanical distillate in sandalwood or natural base oil - gentle on skin, permissible for prayer.
Distilled, not compounded
Every attar is made by deg-bhapka hydro-distillation in our own Kannauj courtyard. Batch number on every vial.
Sealed and sent safely
Wax-sealed vials, upright padded boxes, 3-5 days across India. Cash on Delivery and GST invoice on request.
What customers say
“My grandfather wore Kannauj shamama every winter. I had given up finding one that smelled like his coat - this is it, warm and spiced and still on my wrist the next morning.”
“We ordered four hundred 1 ml mitti vials as wedding favours. Every one arrived tied in our marigold ribbon, and guests were still asking about them a month later.”
“The gulab is nothing like the synthetic rose sprays. It opens bright and green, then settles into sandalwood for hours. One dab behind each ear is enough.”
Know when the rose season’s first gulab is ready
A short letter each season: what is in the degs, when the mitti is being baked, and early access to Eid and Diwali gift chests. Nothing more.