How Our Grandfather Shri Ram Sharanlal Ji Invented Kala Bhoot (Mehkaas)

In the late 1890s in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, our grandfather Shri Ram Sharanlal Ji changed the course of Indian perfumery. The legend of Kala Bhoot Attar began on a quiet day that was meant only for cleaning.

He was cleaning the attar patr—the metal vessels we use for storing and decanting oils. One by one, he shifted attar from one container to another, clearing shelves, wiping lids, and collecting the last few drops that always remain.

Instead of throwing those remnants away, he poured the final trickles into a single spare patr. Hours later, when he lifted the lid, a new fragrance rose—deep, steady, and unlike anything he had ever made. The liquid inside looked almost black.

He named it “Kala Attar.”
Traders and patrons began calling it “Kala Bhoot”, because the scent followed like a shadow—soft on the skin, strong in memory. The name stayed. The legend grew.

From Agra the word traveled to Bharatpur. A small batch was presented to Maharaja Kishan Singh of Bharatpur. He approved it on the spot. Orders followed, and soon Kala Bhoot became a signature of our house—a born-by-chance invention, crafted by instinct, kept alive by discipline.

Though our craft stands in Agra, it carries the soul of Kannauj attar—slow distillation, patience, and purity. Mehkaas exists to protect that method and that story.

From Shri Ram Sharanlal Ji to Shri Shyamvihari Sugandhi (who later invented Juhi Attar for a visiting client from Iran in 1945), and now to Shri Namit Sugandhi (since 2015), the line remains unbroken. Each generation has created new attars for modern taste, but Kala Bhoot remains our crown—originally invented by Ram Sharanlal Ji, and still crafted with respect to that first accidental blend.

This is Kala Bhoot by Mehkaas—
born from remnants, named for its color, remembered for its presence