Gift hamper for Dad: a handmade candle chest for his morning aarti or his reading chair, for Father's Day or his birthdayGift hamper for Dad: a handmade candle chest for his morning aarti or his reading chair, for Father's Day or his birthday

Fathers are hard to buy for. Start with his routine

Ask any Indian father what he wants and he will say "kuch nahi". The trick is to look at what he does every day. Many fathers do the morning aarti before anyone else is up. Many have one chair where they read the paper, or a desk where they sort the bills. A hamper built for that spot is used every day, which is the only kind of gift he will not call a waste of money.

On Raajkosh you build it in the gift chest builder: pick 3 to 6 handmade soy candles, then the chest style, a ribbon and your message, and we deliver across India. Each piece is charged at its shop price, plus the chest style. 4 or more pieces: 10% off the pieces. The builder shows the full price before checkout; the totals below are for the pieces only.

Three chests for three kinds of father

Add the chest style to each total. A fourth piece takes 10% off all four.

The aarti chest. Six terracotta-red diyas that hold wax instead of oil, so there is no ghee to refill; a cream shankh with gold-flecked wax and pink wax lotuses for the mandir shelf; and four little red matki pots with hand-painted vines. For a father who has done aarti for forty years, it is a gift that respects his habit.

The reading chair. Vanilla Reverie is our only scented candle: soft vanilla in an amber jar with a black screw lid, nothing ornamental. The seashell pair in sky blue and sand beige sits on his side table, and one navy spiral finishes it.

From the grandchildren. Small, bright and easy to carry from the doorway to Dadaji's room: ten sunflower tealights, a single spiral and a lotus. Let the children write the message.

Choosing for a father who says he needs nothing

• Use, not decor. Fathers respect a gift they can use. The diyas and tealights get lit; the shankh and urli earn their place in the mandir.
• No hearts, no teddies. Keep it plain: spirals, diyas, shells, the vanilla jar.
• A message from you, not a quote. Two lines about something he taught you will be read many times and kept in his drawer.
• Older eyes and hands: wide, stable pieces like the diyas and tealights are safer on a mandir shelf than tall thin ones.

If you want "Papa" on the tag or on a candle, our personalised gifts for Dad page explains how that works through custom orders.

Father's Day, his birthday, or his retirement

Father's Day in India is the third Sunday of June. His birthday and his retirement matter more to most fathers, and the chest works for all three. For a retirement, add the Urli Candles at Rs 699 to the aarti chest as a fourth piece: a pair for either side of the door of the home he now has time to enjoy.

Kurtas, gadgets and dry fruits are elsewhere

Our chest is only candles. If your father would rather have a kurta, a smartwatch, a book, a pair of slippers or a box of dry fruits, a clothing store, an electronics store or a dry fruit shop is the right place. Many children give one of those with a small candle chest, the candles for his mandir or his chair. Every other chest idea starts on our gift hampers page.

Getting it to him

Orders dispatch in 24 to 48 hours and arrive 2 to 7 days after dispatch. We do not promise a delivery date, so order well before the day and check the estimate for your parents' pincode on the product page. Orders of Rs 999 or more ship free; below that, Rs 79, which applies to the grandchildren's chest on the pieces alone, so check the builder's final figure. Payment is prepaid only (UPI, card, net banking or wallet); there is no cash on delivery, so pay for it yourself rather than leaving it to him at the door. Report damage within 24 hours of delivery for a replacement or refund.

Tell him, because he will not read the card on the box: trim the wick to about 5 mm, keep each burn to 3 to 4 hours, and never leave a candle burning alone in the mandir.