Champaka, also known as Indian Frangipani is a tropical flower of the genus Plumeria.  The small yellow-white flowers are beautiful and are often used in Hindu devotional ceremonies.  Champaka trees are often grown in temple compounds and are also called temple trees or pagoda trees.  The champaka flower is particularly sacred to Lord Krishna who often wore champaka garlands.  According the Hindu legends, champaka flowers, along with Ashoka flowers, also adorn the hair of the Mother Goddess Lalitambika.   The five petals of the champaka or frangipani flower represent five qualities necessary for psychological perfection:  sincerity, faith, aspiration, devotion and surrender.

Champaka flowers are  ritually placed on altars and shrines as offerings to the gods.   The heady fragrance is said to  ritually purify  the air and aid in meditation and spiritual devotion.  The fragrance of champaka flowers is delicate and sweet.   It is quite floral and has reminiscents of neroli and ylang ylang and has pleasant citric and tea-like  notes.

Durga Interiors carries Champaka Attar that is made entirely by hand in India, employing traditional methods - the way it has been made throughout centuries.   Champaka flowers are added to water in large copper vessels called degs and simmered over a wood fire for over three weeks.  Aromatic vapors  pass through hollow bamboo and travel into another deg filled with pure sandalwood oil.  Over the next three weeks the vapors rise and get thoroughly infused in the sandalwood resulting in an exquisite aromatic oil.

Champaka attar is one of the more difficult attars to prepare as the flowers are exceptionally delicate and great care must be exercised to maintain proper simmering temperature and pressure so that the delicate petals suspended in water would not burn.  Since the entire process is done by hand and no mechanical gauges are employed, a long and thorough experience in traditional oil-making is required to accurately control the pressure and heat of the fire.

Champaka Attar can be used in a diffuser or can be worn in minute amounts after dilution.  Often times, champaka attar is diluted with India Earth Attar to infuse an earthy tone to its sweetness as well as to add a grounding effect to the oil's properties.   Champaka Attar is not recommended to be worn during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

TANTRA:

The fragrance of the Champaka or Frangipani flower promotes the energy of the fourth and fifth Chakra houses: The Heart Chakra and the Throat Chakra respectively.

The Heart chakra is the middle chakra in a system of seven. It is related to love and is the integrator of opposites in the psyche: mind and body, male and female, persona and shadow, ego and unity. A healthy fourth chakra allows us to love deeply, feel compassion, and have a deep sense of peace and centeredness.

The fifth chakra is the chakra located in the throat and is thus related to communication and creativity. Here we experience the world symbolically through vibration, such as the vibration of sound representing language.