Filling Ramazan air with sweet aroma

Traders say demand for non-alcoholic perfumes, attar, goes up in fasting month

KARACHI:

While most people associate the scent of fried food items with Ramazan, another kind of fragrance also fills the air, that is, of attar, the non-alcoholic perfumes.

The demand for these fragrances jumps exponentially during Ramadan, resulting in an influx of customers at perfume shops, be it the designer perfumes of leading brands at high-end shopping malls or temporary stalls selling halal scents outside mosques. Traders told The Express Tribune that being non-alcoholic and traditional are the main selling points of the famous oriental perfumes in Ramazan. Leading brands have introduced a wide range of alcohol-free fragrances that have made their way into the hands of customers seeking sharia-compliant perfumes.

The port city's hot and humid weather also forces people to use attar when they go to the mosques and Taraweeh to avoid any unpleasant smell of sweat. Traders said that attar is an essential Eid accessory too. "People like to wear traditional scents on the festive occasion of Eidul Fitr, a custom widely attributed to the Holy Prophet (PBUH)," said a salesman at an outlet of a leading attar selling chain. He said that being a Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), the attar is used with religious devotion. Regarding the prices, he said that compared to last year, the prices of attar and fragrance have increased by 50 per cent. Attar, sold for Rs200 per ounce last year, is now sold at Rs300. In addition, the price of pure attars like Oud, Khas and Janatul Firdous has reached Rs3,000 to Rs6,000. According to perfume dealers, most people opt for attar because its fragrance lasts longer than perfumes and body spray. Even after washing clothes, the scent remains, they say.

Popular perfumes include rose, jasmine, sabaya, sheikh al-sheikh, job naib, general desire, etc. The more expensive fragrances include shamama, amber, khus, oud and Janatul Firdous. The branded varieties of Saeed Ghani, J Dot, Mushk Mahal are sold for over Rs6,000.

However, he said, people can buy smaller bottles on 12ml, and online discount sales were going on during the Eid season. Meanwhile, Naimat Ullah, the owner of a perfume shop in Hussainabad, says he has observed that women tend to prefer lighter fragrances while men prefer something more potent.

He said that the choice of attar changes from season to season too, "You cannot use khas in winter, it is for dry and hot weather of the South Asian planes; similarly Oud gives a fragrance with a touch of burnt coal, has a startling effect in winters, but opposite in searing hot weather." Naimat said that during Ramazan, special arrangements are made for prayers in houses and to keep the environment clean, people use bakhoor.

Electric burners are also available in the market to fill the room with a sweet aroma. Major perfume wholesalers in Karachi are located at Jamia Cloth, whereas in the Bottle Gully in the Light House area, traders sell unbranded perfumes. Many small perfumers buy their supplies from here and fill bottles with their brand's name.