Christmas hamper in India: a handmade candle chest for the table and the tree corner, with the price of each pieceChristmas hamper in India: a handmade candle chest for the table and the tree corner, with the price of each piece

What goes in a Christmas hamper, and which part we make

A Christmas hamper in India usually holds plum cake or cookies, a bottle of something, chocolates, perhaps a mug and hot chocolate, and a candle or two for the table. We make the candles, and nothing else. So a Raajkosh Christmas hamper is a candle hamper: a gift chest that you fill with 3 to 6 handmade soy pieces, then choose the chest style, a ribbon and a personal message. Four or more pieces get 10% off the pieces.

Our ready-made hampers are listed on the site as coming soon. Today, you build the chest yourself, and the builder shows the full price, chest included, before you pay.

The Christmas pieces

Three of our candles carry the Christmas tag:

• Spiral Pillar Candles, Rs 179 each or Rs 799 for five (ivory, pink, blue, yellow, navy). Tall twists for the dinner table.
• Braided Candles, Rs 849 for four round candles with plaited rims in pink, blue, butter yellow and peach. They look like a small wreath laid flat.
• Vanilla Reverie, Rs 549: vanilla in an amber glass jar with a black lid and gold flakes, the smell of Christmas baking. Our only scented candle.

Two more that fit a winter table: Sunflower Tealights (Rs 449 for 10) to line a windowsill, and Seashell Candles (Rs 899 for two) in sky blue and sand beige, for a coastal Christmas in Goa or Kerala.

Christmas hamper prices, piece by piece

These are the three-piece totals at shop prices; add the chest style. All cross Rs 999 on the pieces, so they ship free. If you add a fourth piece, 10% comes off all the pieces and the builder recalculates.

Building it for the person

For your parents: the dinner table chest. They host, they set the table, they will use every piece on the 25th.

For a couple's first Christmas in their flat: the full Christmas chest, with a message about the year they have had.

For a friend who lives alone: the small and warm chest. Vanilla Reverie and a single spiral make a quiet evening; the tealights go on the balcony.

For a church choir friend or neighbour: one piece is enough. A single Spiral Pillar with a ribbon is Rs 179, and our page on Christmas gifts under Rs 500 has more small presents.

Colours that look like Christmas

For a classic look, ask the builder for a red or green ribbon and pair navy and ivory spirals with the braided set. For a softer, modern Christmas, keep to the pastels: pink and blue spirals, the braided rims and the sunflower tealights. Gold flakes on Vanilla Reverie catch the fairy lights either way.

Adding the cake and the rest

Hand the chest over with things a candle maker cannot send: plum cake or rich fruit cake from your local bakery, kulkuls and rose cookies if you are in Goa or Mangalore, a box of chocolates, a tin of hot chocolate. A bakery hamper or a gourmet gifting site is the better buy if food is the main event; our chest is for the part that stays on the table after the cake is finished.

Ordering in time for the 25th

We dispatch in 24 to 48 hours and deliver 2 to 7 days after dispatch across India. We do not promise delivery by Christmas Day, so order in early December and check the estimate for the pincode on the product page. Payment is prepaid only (UPI, card, net banking or wallet); no cash on delivery. Damage reported within 24 hours of delivery is replaced or refunded.

Safety on a busy Christmas table: keep candles away from tinsel, paper decorations and the tree, trim wicks to about 5 mm, keep each burn to 3 to 4 hours, and never leave them lit in an empty room.