Attar (or ittar, the name derived from the ancient Babylonian language meaning essence of flowers) is the essential oil obtained from flowers following the ancient method of extraction, which originated in India: some archaeological sites have brought to light alembics made from copper which were used to produce attars as long ago as 3000 b.c.
By following the harvesting seasons of the flowers, the old producers of attars, in accordance with the traditional method, travelled from village to village throughout the whole of India carrying their alembics with them. The equipment hasn’t particularly changed, and in some case has not changed at all over the last five thousand years. The procedure is completely manual without the use of technological instruments. It is a
distillation process using low pressure vapour over flower petals, which are place in the copper alembics, sealed with cotton and clay. The process can take up to more than two weeks and is constantly controlled by the “attar maker” who regulates the pressure and the temperature in order to avoid burning the delicate flower petals. Some attars also contain woods, spices and resins.
The attars were offered as gifts from the reigning Indians to their guests at the moment of leaving, closed in crystal containers, the ittardan. The royal family used them as deodorants. These essences are very much appreciated in India, their original homeland where they can also used in some Hindu ceremonies, but they are very diffuse in the Muslim world, where they have entered under the definition of fragrances diluted in oil and not in alcohol in order to satisfy the social customs of the Middle East.
