Flowers are present in medicines, rituals, and daily prayers. They are everywhere depicted in religious imagery. They are etched or inlaid in the stones of great monuments, like the Taj Mahal, whose postcard views deprive you of what anyone who has seen it firsthand knows. That is, how abundantly the marble tomb is inlaid with delicate floral motifs, stone images depicting a minimum of 23 different flower species symbolizing, among other things, the four cardinal directions, the five senses, and the six divine attributes of God.

— Read more in The Private Life of Perfume: An epic pilgrimage along India’s jasmine trail at Town & Country.