Srinagar, Apr 25 (FN Agency) Abdul Aziz Kozgar is running the 600-year-old lone rose water distillery shop in Srinagar’s down town area to keep the memory of his ancestors alive. The six century old shop is situated near the ancient shrine of Hazrat Amir Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA), who visited the Kashmir valley in the year 1372 along with hundreds of his followers to spread the message of Islam including a good number of artisans who taught people the craft. In the wood-and-brick made shop, there are pictures of Sufi saints pasted on the walls. The shelves are stocked with dark-coloured glass bottles and antique-looking jars of varying sizes – there are handwritten Urdu and Persian slips pasted on them. “I have been making and selling rose water since childhood,” Abdul Aziz said.“We are not doing this work as a trade but to keep the memory of our ancestors alive is my sole objective”. Abdul Aziz, the owner and heir of the shop told UNI. He said the shop is five to six hundred years old and he has been running it for the past fifty years. He said he is making rose water from the petals of the Kashmiri roses.
It is believed that when Hazrat Amir Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani visited Kashmir nearly seven hundred years ago, brought along with him an army of artisans, including “Attars” or scent makers besides various craftsmen who resided here and taught the local people all about their craft. “It is the result of the efforts of artisans and “Attar” that in the valley not only various handicrafts are alive today but are also an important part of our wonderful culture and a source of livelihood for many people”, he said and added “his rose water distillery shop is a reminder of that era”.In this shop, rose water is prepared by squeezing the leaves of Kashmir rose flowers, which is sprinkled on gatherings and other occasions in all shrines, monasteries and imambargahs of Kashmir routinely. Abdul Aziz said the price of a bottle is Rs 50 while the same bottle is being sold in the market for Rs 300. “Our aim is just to serve for the betterment not to earn money out of it”, he added. He said there are about 150 quantities of rose water available at his shop. He said that earlier medicines for various kinds of ailments were prepared out of rose water from his ancestral shop.
Abdul Aziz said earlier some “Hakeem” or a practitioner of a herbal medicine, used to prescribe rose water for different ailments to the patients which were prepared at the shop. “As of now they have stopped prescribing the rose water and we have also stopped preparing it here,” he said. “We are trying to preserve the ancient method so that no change can take place in it”, he said and added “the way our ancestors used to make rose water with their own hands, we have adopted the exact same method, but we also use the vessels and bottles that they used for this water”. He said today’s generation is completely unaware of this trade and they do not know that the rose water used as perfume in places of worship is produced here in Kashmir. Rose water, which is made from the petals of the rose flower, was used not only for perfumes but also in make-up before the present day cosmetics, he added. According to experts, rose water is extremely beneficial for the skin and is considered to be extremely effective in boosting skin immunity.