About Urli Utsav
Urli Utsav is a small Indian home decor business run from San Ramon, California. Everything we sell is made by hand in India. Everything ships from a warehouse a few minutes from where we live.
Why we started
The problem we kept running into was simple. You could find Indian decor online, but buying it meant ordering from India — three weeks of waiting, a customs bill you did not expect, and no way to ask a question before you bought. Or you could buy something described as “Indian-inspired” from a large retailer, made nowhere near India by nobody in particular.
We wanted the actual thing, without the customs form. So we started importing properly: buying from the craft clusters that make these pieces, bringing them in as a business, paying the duty ourselves, and stocking them here.
That is the whole idea. The brass lamp is the brass lamp a temple in Kerala would use. It just ships from California.
Where the pieces come from
We buy from working craft clusters rather than factories.
- Kutch, Gujarat — Lippan mirror work. Raised relief with mirror pieces set into it by hand, the same technique used on the walls of village homes.
- Rajasthan — carved and hand-painted mango wood. Jharokha frames, elephant stools, pooja chowkis, mandirs.
- Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh — brass. Kuthu vilakku and nilavilakku lamps, urlis, kalash, bells.
- Kerala and Tamil Nadu — the standing oil lamp forms, made the way they have been made for a very long time.
Some of our wall art is signed by the artist. Sakshi Khullar’s jharokha panels, for instance, are individual pieces rather than a production run.
What handmade actually means here
It means two pieces are not identical. A hand-painted chowki has brush marks. A Lippan panel has mirrors set slightly differently. A brass lamp has hammer marks on the base.
We photograph the actual item where we can, and we say what things are made of. Gold-finish urlis are iron under a gold polish, and we say so on the listing. Solid brass is solid brass, and we publish the weight so you can check. Antique silver is plated and oxidised brass or copper — there is no silver in it, and we do not call it German silver, because that name misleads people.
How we ship
From San Ramon, California, usually within one business day. Free and insured across the USA and Canada.
Because we stock here rather than drop-shipping from India, there is no customs charge, no brokerage fee and no international freight added at your door. The price you see is the price you pay. If something arrives damaged, send us a photograph and we will replace it or make it right — transit damage is covered.
Where you can find us
Online at urliutsav.com, on Etsy, and in person at Bay Area melas through the festive season. Our current event calendar is on the blog.
The melas are the part we would not give up. Someone picks up a brass diya and tells you their mother had one exactly like it in Pune. That conversation is why the booth exists.
Getting in touch
Email contact@urliutsav.com or WhatsApp +1 510 695 1946. A real person answers, usually the same day.
If you are trying to work out what fits a particular corner of your home, ask. We would rather talk it through than have something arrive that is the wrong size.
Browse everything we stock, or start with Brass Decor, Urli Bowls or Wooden Pooja Mandirs.