Odisha and West Bengal clashed to claim Rasgulla as their own, there was a rivalry for the GI tag

New Delhi: It is natural for your mouth to water as soon as you hear or read the name of Rasgulla. There is hardly anyone in the country who does not like Rasgulla. Rasgulla has made a special place for itself among the dishes served for wedding ceremonies, festivals or home reception. We are also mentioning it today because today is also Rasgulla Day. There is a tradition of celebrating this day on the day of the conclusion of Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha, but do you know that there was a feud between two states Assam and West Bengal over this delicious Rasgulla. There was a fight between the two that Rasgulla was made first in their place. However, in the year 2017, West Bengal won this battle and since then Bengal has also got the GI tag of Rasgulla. On the occasion of Rasgulla Day, let us tell you this interesting story.The tussle started in 2015
The battle of Rasgulla between Odisha and West Bengal started 9 years ago. In 2015, the Odisha government celebrated Rasgulla Day and claimed that this sweet treat is its own. The Bengal government and the descendants of the sweet maker Nabin Chandra Das and family got angry at this and went to the central government demanding GI tag for Rasgulla. The West Bengal government in its argument cited the history of the 19th century and said that the beloved Rasgulla was invented by the famous sweet maker Nabin Chandra Das in 1868.

Odisha also had its own claims
The sweet makers of Odisha also challenged Bengal’s claim. They said that for more than 300 years, many types of rasgullas have been offered to Lord Jagannath in the state, so they are the real owners of the GI of rasgulla. The Odisha government had even formed a committee to get the GI tag for rasgulla. After this, for three years, members of the Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks visited Bengal and Odisha several times. They contacted the historians there, scrutinized many documents and also collected information related to the controversy.

Historians also put forward their views
Historians on this subject said that the type of rasgulla that Bengal is claiming to be its own is famous as Chhena Rasgulla and it was invented in 1868. The type of rasgulla that is offered to Lord Jagannath is Kheer Mohan Rasgulla. Mahua Hom Chowdhury, Senior Scientist at the Patent Information Center in the Department of Science and Technology, told ET that we have prepared the final formulation of the data and documents related to rasgulla. We did chemical analysis and proved in the court that rasgulla belongs to Bengal. She was in touch with the ministry in this matter.