QATAR/INDIA: The traditional Oud fragrance is highly popular in Qatar despite rising prices

Record ID: 1377138

  • Title: QATAR/INDIA: The traditional Oud fragrance is highly popular in Qatar despite rising prices
  • Date: 8th June 2008
  • Summary: (MER-1) DOHA, QATAR (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS PEOPLE WALKING IN SHOPPING MALL EXTERIOR OF INCENSE SHOP AT THE MALL LOCAL QATARI WOMAN INSIDE SHOP LOCAL WOMEN TALKING WITH A SALESPERSON AT THE SHOP VARIOUS OF QATARI WOMAN SMELLING DIFFERENT KINDS OF INCENSE AND PERFUMES LOCAL OUD PERFUMES AND INCENSE ON DISPLAY OUD ON DISPLAY IN GLASS BOXES MAN SMELLING INCENSE AT SHOP COUNTER AMR, OWNER OF AN OUD AND INCENSE SHOP, AT HIS SHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AMR, OWNER OF AN OUD AND INCENSE SHOP, SAYING: "Oud is a virus that affects trees in tropical forests after the age of twenty years or so. The process of the tree resisting the virus results in the production of Oud that we can find in markets now". OUD PERFUME BOTTLES ON SHELF QATARI MAN MOHAMMED AL-ANSARI TALKING WITH SALESPERSON IN SHOP AL-ANSARI SMELLING PERFUME (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) QATARI CONSUMER MOHAMMED AL-ANSARI SAYING: "God is beautiful and loves beauty. The Prophet also liked good scents, so it became a habit we inherited from him. At the same time it's part of our custom and tradition and a sign of hospitality (to give guests perfume.)"
  • Embargoed: 23rd June 2008 16:09
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA3P8OXWEPJMZBVME74VYLBX13J
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: The Oud fragrance attracts Qatari men and women alike who prefer it for its scent and its use in traditional customs.
    Walking inside a local house or a shopping mall in many areas of the Arab Gulf, one can smell a distinct strong fragrance -- the smell of oud fragrance. Oud is traditionally used in the region to make perfume and fill houses with scent, either through distilling the fragrance into liquid form or burning the wood from which the fragrance is extracted.
    Oud, with its powerful aroma, is produced and sold in the form of perfume, oil and wood. Its fragrance is described as deep, rich, woody and balsamic.
    The fragrance is popular amongst men and women alike and is sold for astonishingly high prices due to the level of demand in Gulf countries. Shops selling the pricey oud are a popular destination for buyers in Qatar's shopping malls, alongside designers clothes and exquisite jewellery stores.
    The Oud comes from the Aquilaria Tree, also known as Aloeswood, Agarwood and Eaglewood, grown in north-east India, Bhutan and parts of south-east Asia. It is known for its medicinal as well as aromatic uses.
    Oud is made by distilling the aromatic Agarwood resin, produced when the tree becomes infected with mould.
    Locals in Qatar and other Arab Gulf countries take pride in their traditional fragrance and use it for special occasions such as weddings, celebrations of new births and even funerals. Many tourists and foreigners have also found the scent of oud attractive and buy vials of it to take home when they leave the region.
    Some also use oud for religious reasons. Muslims believe that the prophet Mohammed used oud perfume, especially before going for Friday prayers.

    "God is beautiful and loves beauty. The Prophet also liked good scents, so it became a habit we inherited from him. At the same time it's a part of our custom and tradition and a sign of hospitality" to give guests oud perfume, said Mohammed al-Ansari, a Qatari buyer.

    "We use these scents because of their nice smell and also because it's a part of our tradition and customs," said Qatari consumer Mohammed al-Ansari, "So we insist on using these traditional scents despite the rise in its prices lately."
    Standardized units of 12 millilitres of oud perfume can sell in Arab Gulf states for hundreds of U.S. dollars (USD), with some bottles known to have been sold for up to 2,000 USD.
    ENDS.
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