Odisha Rasagola gets GI tag, Geographical Indication certificate

The people of Odisha can breathe a sigh of relief as their favourite sweet ‘Odisha Rasagola’ has received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

Registered as ‘Odisha Rasagola’, the certificate has been granted to this sweet today by Chennai office and it will be valid till February 22, 2028.

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Notably, in November 2017, West Bengal had bagged the GI tag for ‘Banglar Rasogolla’ evoking an immediate reaction that the Odisha lost the battle to the neighbouring state.

However, the then finance minister Sashi Bhusan Behera was quick to reject such apprehensions and said the process was on to get GI tag for the Odisha variety of the sweet.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in Orissa High Court in February last year seeking Geographical Indication (GI) tag for ‘Odishara Rasagola’ and scraping the tag received by the West Bengal.

It may be mentioned here that the Rasagola has been a part of the state’s centuries-old ritual of offering prayers to Lord Jagannath and was mentioned in a 16th century Odia epic Dandi Ramayana.

It may be recalled here that Asit Mohanty, a researcher, had submitted a report claiming that Rasagola has been mentioned in Odia literature before 1893 while there is no mention of such sweet in any Bengali literature before 1896.

Odisha had been claiming that the famous sugary delicacy of eastern India originated in the State years ago as it was first served at the 12th-century Lord Jagannath temple in Puri while Bengal only traces it back to 150 years.