Aranya Doloi
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Odisha has come out clean; the state has been vindicated! Almost two years after West Bengal walked away with geographical indication (GI) tag recognition for rasgulla, the eastern state of Odisha has also finally received the Geographical Indication tag for its local version of the popular sweet. The formal GI certification, after which a product is recognized as distinctive to a particular locality or region or country was issued by Chennai-based GI Registry on its website.
The tag comes after years of debate between West Bengal and Odisha over where the sweet had originated. When West Bengal received its GI tag for rasgulla in November 2017, it was falsely believed that the GI Registry has recognized that rasgulla’s origin to be in West Bengal. However, tracing the origin of the humble sweet was an impossible feat, especially when both the states have their own versions and dates of the origin of rasgulla, so now the GI tags have officially accepted both the types. While Bengalis claim rasgulla originated in the 19th century by Nobin Chandra Das, Odias believe the tradition of Niladri Bije where rasgulla is offered started back in the 12th century.
Irrespective of the place of origin, we are glad the war had ended sweetly for both the states. As for the rest of the country, everyone is super happy that they can relish two types of rasgulla now.
