Have you ever smelled rain in the air? Or within a few minutes of the first raindrops, did you hesitate and wonder what was that wonderful aroma?
PETRICHOR is the name given to the AROMA OF RAIN. The word petrichor was invented by two Australian scientists who introduced it in a 1964 paper, an investigation into the scent of moistened clay, rock, and sediment. It has been described as “sweet like grass, earthy like soil, lush, a touch salty, fresh, and green—like relief.” Scientists combined the Greek word for stone, “petra,” and “ichor,” which means “the blood of gods”, to coin a name for the scent of rain.
The scent of rain has been bottled in India since 1911. It’s called “mitti attar,” or Earth’s perfume, and is made from distilling the essence of monsoon-soaked soil.
