Mother's Day hamper for Mom: a handmade candle chest for her mandir, her balcony or her own quiet cornerMother's Day hamper for Mom: a handmade candle chest for her mandir, her balcony or her own quiet corner

A hamper built around how she spends her day

Mother's Day in India is the second Sunday of May, and the hampers sold for it are mostly the same: a mug that says "Best Mom", chocolates she will share with everyone, a cushion. Think instead about where your mother actually spends her time. The mandir in the morning. The balcony with her plants. The one chair where she sits with her tea when the house is finally quiet. Build the hamper for that place.

On Raajkosh you do it in the gift chest builder: 3 to 6 handmade soy candles, then the chest style, a ribbon and your message, delivered 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.

Three chests for three corners of her home

Add the chest style to each. With a fourth piece, 10% comes off all four.

The mandir. A cream shankh streaked with caramel and decorated with pink wax lotuses, four little red matki pots with hand-painted vines, and a layered lotus. For a mother whose day starts with aarti, this is a chest she will use every week.

Her own chair. Vanilla Reverie is our only scented candle: soft vanilla in an amber jar with a lid, for the half hour she keeps for herself. The peony pair and the flower-ringed Blossom Candle sit on the side table and look lovely unlit.

The balcony and the door. Ten sunflower tealights for the balcony ledge on a summer evening, the gold-rimmed urli pair for either side of the front door, and four braided rounds in soft pastels.

Making it feel like it came from you

• Write the message yourself. Mothers keep these notes. Two lines about something she did for you that nobody else remembers will matter more than anything in the chest.
• Do not pick for your taste. If her home is all brass and marigold, the pastel chest will sit in a drawer. Look at her room before you choose.
• Keep the scent gentle. Many mothers dislike strong perfume. Only Vanilla Reverie has a scent; every other piece is a shaped soy candle with no fragrance stated.
• If you live away, send it to her address and call her when it arrives. That call is half the gift.

For a single candle rather than a full chest, see our candle gift for Mom page.

Your mother-in-law, or two mothers at once

Many people send a hamper to their mother-in-law on Mother's Day too. A safe choice for her is the mandir chest, which suits almost every Indian home. If you are sending to both mothers, build two chests rather than one larger one, and write each message separately.

Not a pamper basket of creams and chocolates

Our chest is only candles. If she would enjoy skincare, a saree, a spa voucher, dry fruits or chocolates, those come from a beauty store, a boutique or a gifting site, and many children send one of those alongside the candle chest. If you want "Maa" or her name on a piece, ask through custom orders with the idea and the date; custom pieces are not returnable unless damaged or wrong.

Every other chest idea starts on our gift hampers page.

Ordering in time for May

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 second Sunday of May and check the estimate for her pincode on the product page. Orders of Rs 999 or more ship free; below that, Rs 79. Payment is prepaid only (UPI, card, net banking or wallet); there is no cash on delivery. Report damage within 24 hours of delivery for a replacement or refund.

Tell her, or write it on the card: trim each wick to about 5 mm, keep each burn to 3 to 4 hours, and never leave a candle burning alone in the mandir.