Utna envelopes

from Aasari Kulkarni

“Diwali begins with Abhyanga Snana: a bath that marks the festival, where you use fragrant utna to cleanse yourself after a fragrant oil massage. Utna sold in bright envelopes is a Diwali staple. Street vendors and shops alike sell neon, magenta, orange, and other bright-colored paper envelopes with black Devanagari prints of Sugandhi Utne (fragrant utne). The bold and bright colors are a classic celebratory element. My favorite part about these is the spot illustrations of common Diwali motifs used to create borders and embellishments like the diya, swastika, lotus flowers, etc. Envelopes are a cheap packaging method, but they don’t transport well which makes me think that these are regional, household small businesses. I also found some multilingual packets from Mumbai with Gujarati and Marathi lettering. The packaging and print are economical; the illustrations are known; the Devanagari is cookie-cutter: all in all, a perfect embodiment of an affordable household celebration staple.”