India, May 26 -- I recently visited a mall and passed by a store that had a pleasant, aromatic fragrance. Amidst the other scents that were in the air, this fragrance captivated my mind and soul to the core. And to curb my excitement, I entered the store only to find that the fragrance was not from a luxurious bottle of perfume. It was rather the sweet scent of a natural, floral attar.

A forever fan of luxe perfumes, I started researching more on attars and perfumes. I figured out that while both are designed to provide pleasant scents, they differ greatly in composition, manufacturing process, longevity, and cultural significance.

Attar is a natural perfume oil derived from botanical sources such as flowers, herbs, spices, and woods. I...