Odisha is not ready to give up on the rasogolla war yet. Quoting from the State’s folklore and history, prominent intellectuals of Bhubaneswar argued that the Odisha rasogolla is not by any means a copy of Bengal’s, but rather a variant of the sweet delicacy.
Citing ancient texts and folklore, they backed the State government’s decision to apply for a GI tag for Odisha’s own version of rasogolla. The GI tag is a process of geographically identifying a place as the origin of a particular product.
The West Bengal Department of Food Processing Industries and Horticulture applied for the GI tag for the rasogolla in September 2015, stating that it was invented in Kolkata. However, Odisha made a counter claim, stating that the rasogolla originated in Puri in the 13th century.
West Bengal was granted the GI tag for the ‘Banglar Rasogolla’ last Tuesday.
Renowned Odia writer and Sahitya Akademi award winner Asit Mohanty told The Hindu , “In Jagmohan Ramayan , also known as the Dandi Ramayan , [Odia] poet Balaram Das has written about rasagolla in the late 15th century. It shows that there is 500 years of documented history of the rasogolla in Odisha.” Mr. Mohanty also pointed out that there is no “legal obstruction” for Odisha to apply for its own brand of rasogolla. Another commentator on Odia culture and history, Kedar Mishra, also pointed to the long history of the sweet in the State, adding, “Rasogolla is prepared not only in coastal parts of the State but also in the western and southern areas.”
Mr. Mishra refuted the argument by a section of Bengali civil society that chhna — made by boiling milk and then curdling it with lemon — was never offered to Lord Jagannath at the temple in Puri. Chhna is the key ingredient for making Rasogolla. “There is an interesting folk lore that Lord Jagannath, while returning to the temple during the Ratha Yatra (the annual chariot festival) offered rasogolla to an angry goddess Lakshmi,” he said.
The decision to apply for the GI tag for ‘Odishara rasogolla’ was taken at a meeting of the Odisha government last Wednesday. In a media release, the Odisha government argued that the GI tag awarded to West Bengal was only for “Banglar Rasogolla, specific to West Bengal”.
“Registration for GI for Banglar rasogolla in no way affects the claim for GI registration of Odisha's rasogolla. The Bengal and Odisha variants are different in colour, texture, taste, juice content and method of manufacturing,” an Odisha government statement said. It also said that the Odisha rasogolla is “softer and light brown” whereas the one prepared in Bengal is “white and cream in colour”.
It indicates that the State is planning to approach GI Registry and Intellectual Property office with a fresh set of demand to extend approval to Odisha's Rasogollah.
The decision is perhaps driven by the fact that a lot of scholarly articles citing history and folklore is being written on the issue here [Odisha], Mr Mishra said. With plenty of debates and writings on the subject in both Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, it seems that the battle of Rasogollah will now continue. And perhaps it would be fought using ancient texts and local history.
However, Mr. Mishra said, “Let us not turn the fight bitter over what is ultimately a sweet.”
