Christmas gifts from India, handmade and duty-paid

Christmas falls on Friday 25 December 2026. Every gift below is from the Taj Bazaar catalog and made in the Indian town named on it, and on retail orders to the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia the price you see includes import duties. Fourteen of the twenty ship from our US stock in 1–2 days. The other six are made to order in India, so they are the ones to order first.

Order first: made-to-order gifts

Made-to-order pieces take the making time shown, then 6–9 business days of air freight. Every order is also confirmed by email with a payment link before work starts. The order-by dates below allow for all three, aiming for delivery by 23 December. Treat them as the latest sensible date, not a guarantee.

The pashmina is the one to decide on now. It is 40 × 80 in of 100% Changthangi pashmina, GI-certified, hand-spun and woven on a wooden loom in Srinagar. The Bidriware box is 4 in across, a zinc-copper alloy blackened with soil from Bidar fort and inlaid with pure silver. The Dhokra elephant (6 in tall) is cast in recycled brass by the lost-wax method in Bastar, so the mould is broken for every piece.

Warm gifts for winter

All four of these are in US stock. The Kantha Throw ($89, 50 × 70 in) is five layers of old cotton saris quilted by hand in Bolpur, West Bengal; no two are the same. For a bigger gift, the Dabu Indigo Bedspread, Queen ($148, 90 × 108 in) is printed in Bagru with a clay resist paste and dipped in natural indigo.

For someone who dresses up for the holidays, the Chanderi Silk-Cotton Stole ($58, 27 × 80 in) is a sheer GI-registered weave with small gold butis inlaid on the loom. The Pochampally Ikat Cushion Cover ($34, 18 × 18 in) is handloom cotton tie-dyed in the yarn before weaving, and goes in the machine on cold.

For the cook and the tea drinker

Food gifts are packed in FSSAI-licensed facilities registered with the US FDA, and every food shipment is filed with FDA Prior Notice. All of these are in US stock:

• Kashmiri Saffron, Mongra Grade, 2 g ($24): hand-picked in Pampore, GI-registered. About 150 flowers make one gram.
• Masala Dabba Starter Kit, 7 Spices ($49): a 9 in steel spice box filled with seven 50 g spices and a card of six beginner recipes.
• South Indian Filter Coffee Set ($34): a steel filter, tumbler and davara with 200 g of Kumbakonam coffee-chicory blend.
• Kashmiri Kahwa, 100 g ($18): green tea with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon and almond, the welcome drink of Kashmiri homes.
• Darjeeling First Flush, 100 g ($28): GI-registered spring-picked tea in a caddy.

Jewellery and scent

The Oxidised Silver Jhumkas ($39, 1.8 in drop) are 925 sterling silver from the silversmiths of Dariba Kalan in Old Delhi. The Kundan Jhumka Earrings ($48) are gold-plated brass set with kundan glass and freshwater pearls in Jaipur's Johari Bazaar. Mitti Attar ($34, 6 ml) is baked Kannauj clay distilled into sandalwood oil: the smell of first rain.

For children

The Channapatna Stacking Rings ($32, six rings, 7 in tall) are turned from hale wood and coloured with vegetable-dye lacquer, a GI-registered craft from Karnataka. For a family game after dinner, the cloth Pachisi Board ($39) is the Mughal court game that became Ludo, with wooden pawns and cowrie dice. Both are in US stock.

More gift ideas

For smaller presents, see our stocking stuffers from India under $25. Hosting before Christmas? Our Thanksgiving hostess gifts work for any dinner invitation. Ordering for a team or for clients? Corporate gift sets with a branded sleeve and multi-address delivery are on our homepage under trade, and every collection is on the gifts page.