Smell good, feel greatBut now attar is suddenly enjoying a revival. With natural treatments like Ayurveda
and
aromatherapy gaining popularity, this ancient perfume’s healing benefits are being uncovered. Attar or its source the
essential oils acts like a panacea, say its proponents. Name any common ailment and you have a cure in the essential oils made from rose sandal khus henna. In aromatherapy this essential oil is diluted with carrier oils like almond olive or baby oil in the ratio 1:4 says Sailendra Prasad who runs one of the oldest attar shops in Hyderabad and supplies essential oils to clients interested in aromatherapy.The traditional fragrance called attar made from floral extracts was once popular among the Mughals Nizams and the aristocratic class. So much so that it’s said the Nawab of Awadh Ghaziuddin Haidar had a fountain of attar built around his bedroom to create a romantic fragrant atmosphere. When imported perfumes began flooding the market use of attar for cosmetic purposes declined.But there’s a distinction between the pure essential oil used in aromatherapy and the cheaper common versions available in the market for cosmetic uses. Essential oils can range from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 per kg with the rarest rose oils going for as much as Rs 3 lakhs a kg. The cheaper synthetic ones costing around Rs 30-Rs 50 a small bottle are also skin-friendly and have got sandalwood oil as base. Even though they don’t have medical benefits these can be used in soaps creams candles and room fresheners. According to those in the attar business like Sudesh Kumar Sailendra Prasad and Mohammed Aziz who have shops in Charminar area different fragrances heal different kinds of illness. From depression nausea and fatigue to fever measles rheumatism or skin diseases virtually any health problem can be treated with these essential oils they claim. The word must be spreading because well known attar shops in Hyderabad are getting orders from as far as Jaipur Kolkata Delhi Bangalore and Chennai. Mr Prasad proudly points out that one of his valued customers is none other than Sumitra Gandhi Kulkarn ex MP and granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi. She is a regular customer of khus henna sandalwood he says.It’s for their curative properties that attars and their essential oils are now chiefly valued. After all when the mind is healed every trouble of the body appears trivial says the Kolkata based Doctor Dilip K.R. Bhattacharya who gets attar parcelled from Hyderabad because of their healing power.Sailendra Prasad points out people are slowly beginning to understand the many uses of attar and how it works. Not many people are acquainted with the power of perfumes. They don’t know where to procure raw materials. Since the distillation and extraction of the natural oils from flowers and herbs is cumbersome the cost also shoots up. Moreover this aromatic treatment takes time to heal unlike allopathy. But the plus point is aromatherapy has no side effects contrary to some allopathic medicines he adds