Episode's Mata ki Chowki collection holds the silver placed on the small home altar a family sets up for the evening of bhajans and aarti held before a wedding, diyas, bells, incense holders, candle and votive holders, photo frames, boxes, trays, bowls and a sterling silver deity idol, in silver plated and sterling silver, from around ₹1,080. Because a family is furnishing an altar rather than picking one object, the range spans more piece types than any other single-occasion collection Episode curates.

The Family Setting Up the Altar

A family buys into this collection for its own altar rather than for a guest list, picking a diya, a bell or an incense holder for the small altar assembled at home for the evening of bhajans and aarti held before a wedding, then keeping the piece afterward instead of packing it away with the rest of the wedding's temporary staging. The custom is specific to North Indian households, Punjabi and Delhi-based families in particular, where the collection's sterling silver piece, the Durga Mata idol on a stone base, tends to be bought alongside several plated pieces for the same evening. A smaller run within the range, tealight holders, boxes and bells among them, is set aside as mata ki chowki return gifts for family and close relatives present that night, and several of the diyas double as Diwali gifts too, the same design serving both occasions.

Two Traditions Share One Name

Two separate customs go by the name Mata ki Chowki. The larger version is a night of devotional singing held in a hall or temple, mostly around Navratri, and most of the search interest around mata ki chowki decoration, flower curtains, stage lighting, backdrop drapes, belongs to that larger, temporary staging rather than to anything Episode makes. Episode's collection serves the second custom, a smaller evening held at home in the days before a wedding, where the family gathers for bhajans and aarti around an altar of their own rather than a rented stage. What sits on that altar, a diya, a bell, an incense holder, a small idol, is what this collection actually holds.

What Silver Adds to the Altar

Most pieces sold for a home altar elsewhere are brass or an alloy marketed as German silver, which despite the name carries no actual silver and dulls to an uneven patina that needs regular polishing to lift. Episode's pieces are hallmarked 92.5 sterling silver or genuine silver plated, made largely at its own Noida workshop, and the sterling deity figurine in the range is built using an in-house electroforming process that produces a lightweight, detailed form a solid cast piece cannot match. This altar becomes part of the household after the evening rather than being packed away with the wedding's temporary staging, so a piece bought here holds its value instead of depreciating the way flowers, rented decor or a plated alloy would.

Care and Delivery

Finish follows what each piece is for rather than one blanket rule. Diyas, bells, incense holders, votive and candle holders, trays, boxes, photo frames and pooja thali sets carry Episode's Tarnish Resistant Coat, wiped clean with a soft, moist cloth. Silver polish and abrasive cleaners stay off these pieces; they work against the coat rather than with it. The dining bowls in the range are the exception, left unlacquered for direct food contact and safe to clean at home with a standard silver polish. Sterling silver pieces are hallmarked 92.5 silver and ship with an Episode certificate of authenticity. Engraving is available on most pieces on request and adds a short lead time before dispatch. Ships free across India in gift-ready packaging.

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