various sari shops in Phulia. Santipur's handmade saree is famous in the world. Exclucive pure genuine Handmade Handllom saree and Exportable Handloom items producer, Santipur Handloom Innovation Producer Company Limited work above 700 hundred weavers put together under a one roof. Religious History The old and historical town Santipur is famous for Ras Utsav and Dol utsav which is thought to have been initiated by Mathuresh Goswami, the great grandson of Advaita Acharya who was one of the main associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The principle deity of the town is 'Radharaman' in the family of Baro Gosai descending from the lineage of Mathuresh Goswami. The deity was originally installed as a single statue of krishna named 'dol govinda' in Orissa by king indradyumna. When the king of Yessore (now in Bangladesh), Pratapaditya attacked Orissa, the priest of the temple gave away the deity to his own guru Mathuresh Goswami to protect it in times of emergency. He brought the idol to his ancestral home in Santipur where he reinstalled it in a new temple. A deity of Radha was later installed beside Dolgovinda and both of them renamed Radharaman. The deity, believed to be worshipped by Advaita Acharya himself, is named Madan Gopal and is worshipped in the lineage of Krishna Mishra, the second son of Advaita Acharya. On the day of Rashyatra, the main festival of the town, all of them are taken out in a grand procession around the city accompanied with drums, kirtan and other celebration. Curiously, all the thrones are lit with the age-old Belgium glass candleholders and chandeliers, instead of electric lighting, even to this day. This gives Rashotsav a very ancient and historical look. On this day, as a continuation of a tradition introduced by Bara Goswamis near about 250 years ago, a young girl, called Rai-Raja (Rai is another name for Radha and Raja means king), dressed in expensive attire and gold ornaments is seated in a throne and paraded across the city to be worshipped as Radha. Kali Puja is another festival that the people of this place pays a lot of dedication . There is a unique form of celebrating Kali worship in the form of hand painted image of the deity known as Pateshwari meaning drawing of the deity on a piece of cloth. The deity is worshiped for 3 days during the Rash Utsav. The second day of worship