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Making the Ephemeral
Histories of Indian Perfume
Speakers
Scent travels across time. You just don’t think about it that way.
A whiff of jasmine connects you to rituals performed two thousand years ago. Sandalwood routes that crossed continents. Rose attar distilled using techniques older than most written records. Perfume holds ecology, trade, memory, and craft in a single drop.
James McHugh lectures on smell in early Indian religion and culture. How scent functioned in ritual. How aromatics were understood, classified, traded across ancient networks. Then, a conversation with Bengaluru-based perfumer Ahalya Matthan and anthropologist-perfumer Giti Datt. They work with traditional attars, the concentrated fragrances India has been making for centuries. You’ll hear about the science behind distillation, the artistry in blending, the labor in every bottle.
History, distilled.
The session will be followed by a walkthrough of the Histories of Indian Perfume exhibition by James McHugh at 1 PM.
Image credits:
Thumbnail – Full bhapkas sitting in the corner of a distillery, so that the distillate can settle overnight. Courtesy Giti Datt.
Header – Saffron is described as red and warming. Although produced within India, these richly perfumed stamens were costly by virtue of the intense labor involved in producing them. Kashmiri poets celebrated their wealth of this precious aromatic. Credit: Crocus sativus (saffron). Rowan McOnegal, Source Wellcome Collection.
Part of Pravāha 2026, The Body As Space: A Journey Through The Senses. This year’s festival is built around what we hear, smell, touch, taste, and see. Eight days of multisensory experiences through classical music, contemporary dance, installations, and conversations.
In collaboration with:
Presented by:
Speakers
James McHugh
James McHugh studies the history and religions of early India. He completed his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 2008, and is now Professor at the University of Southern California. His first book, Sandalwood and Carrion: Smell in Indian Religion and Culture (2012), explored the meanings of odours, perfumes and aromatics in India. His latest book, An Unholy Brew: Alcohol in Indian History and Religion (2021), is a study of alcohol, drinking and abstinence in pre-modern South Asia.
Ahalya Matthan
Ahalya Matthan is a perfumer based out of Bangalore, India. Her 20-year practice involves developing briefs and interpreting scents for brands as well as individuals. Additionally, she runs a bath and skincare manufacturing unit. Her other interests include textiles, in which capacity she manages a research and documentation centre, The Registry of Sarees. This year she hopes to develop a project that combines her perfume practice with history.
Giti Datt
With a background in the social sector, Giti Datt is pursuing a Ph.D. in Anthropology, at the Australian National University, Canberra, conducting fieldwork across the lifecycle of Indian attars. Giti’s research unearths the cultural, historical and social dimensions of perfume, shedding light on their enduring significance in contemporary India. A perfumer herself, Giti is dedicated to both experimenting with India’s rare aromatics and enriching academic discourse with their stories.
