The Oldest Perfume Shop in Delhi: Gulab Singh Jorimal

Established in 1816 and run by the same family, this scent boutique is a historical gem that not many travelers know—reserved for the most adventurous noses looking for the purest aromas and essences.

The streets of the Chandni Chowk district in Old Delhi is crowded with a neverending influx of people pulsating between bedazzled sarees that adorn the vitrines of hundreds of boutiques that offer a multi-hued distraction to tuk-tuk passengers caught in traffic. The glistening shops sit side-by-side with spice purveyors, jewelers, and craftsmen offering to fix a reasonable price for their articles, taking the time to share directions with the erratic visitors looking for the Dariba Kalan bazaar. 

In the late 17th century, as the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan was designing the Taj Mahal, he commissioned his daughter Jahanara to develop a marketplace where the best products and foodstuff from their reign could be showcased. The Moonlight Square—the streets used to be canals that reflected the moon’s brightness—was home to fresh ingredients and beautiful fabric for centuries. It’s here that Gulab Singh Jorimal, one of the oldest perfume shops in the world, stands since 1816.

What appears to be an unassuming store within the madness surrounding it, this perfumery is more than a specialized seller of essential oils and fragrances created on-site to suit the buyer’s olfactive requests. Gulab Singh Jorimal is a temple of smell, a place where ancient concoctions rest in crystal flasks, occasionally opened and swept into the streets of Delhi to be lost within the mix of deep-fried food and smog. The boutique is a stronghold of Indian culture and natural history, carefully run by the seventh-generation heirs of the Singh family.

Mukul Gundhi is usually around greeting new customers. He is one of the sons of Ram Singh (who inherited Gulab Singh Jorimal from his father) who did his part to run the shop just as it had been kept for over two centuries. Some of the most eccentric fragrances found here include extracts from the Henna plants, or the Nardostachys jatamansi, a Valerian flower endemic to the Himalayas. Their own formula of the Rajnigandha flower—a bloom of the Polianthes tuberosa, considered to be “fit for the gods”—is regarded as a trademark of the shop. It can be found in both locations of Gulab Singh Johrimal, only a few doors away from each other, the second location (which is run by Ram’s brother, Kishan Mohan Singh, and his son Naveen). 

Here, only ancient techniques of extraction are applied from mostly organic sources. Once entirely natural, the shop now also carries synthetic aromas for clients in search of their own version of the most popular perfumes (the kind you find in Duty-Free shops across airports). Nonetheless, the family recommends their patrons to purchase seasonal smells, following the Earth’s rhythm and lunar cycles. Just like conscious chefs do when designing menus according to their location’s seasonality, the raw materials will vary depending on the weather and yield but also on the delivery times of the distillers in Uttar Pradesh who supply them.

The quality of attention in each fragrance is reflected in the price tag, which could reach up to $200 (€180) per formula. Even though the bottling and handling might look rudimentary compared to the current industry standards, their processes are mostly done by hand, mixing the elements with care, respecting their heritage, and developed through experience. 

This unique perfume parlor has been around for so long that it’s seen the empires it served fall—at one point it was the crafter and purveyor of the fragrances used by the Mughal emperors and royal families. Throughout Gulab Singh Johrimal’s history, approximately 50 specialized attars (local perfume-makers) have collaborated in the preparation of emblematic scents. Experts that have come through the shop left their mark, and just like the owners, they’ve passed down a vast collection of knowledge, essential information for a new cohort of aspiring perfumers. 

Unlike the artificial bottles found in mass markets globally, these cautiously extracted oils and conservatively curated smells don’t dilute and disappear after a few hours—they linger on the user’s body, clinging to their skin just like the owners have managed to hold onto the past. 

A version of this article originally appeared in The Essence, Discovering the world of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance