At long last, in the backdrop of a bitter war between Odisha and West Bengal over the claim of place of origin of Rasagola, ‘Odisha Rasagola’ has now got the much-awaited Geographical Indications (GI) tag on Monday.
Registered as ‘Odisha Rasagola’, the GI certificate for it was granted to the famous sweet by the Chennai-based GI institute of the country and it will be valid till February 22, 2028.The news led to celebrations in the State.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed his happiness over the achievement for ‘Odisha Rasagola’. He took to Twitter to express his joy.
“I am happy to share that Odisha Rasagola has received GI Tag in Geographical Indication Registry. This mouthwatering culinary delight made of cottage cheese, loved by Odias across the world, is offered to Lord Jagannath as part of
bhog since centuries,” Patnaik Twitted.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also expressed pleasure over what he described as the “sweet news for all Odias”, saying that Rasagola is used as Bhog in the Lord Jagannath Temple since ages as part of an old cultural tradition of the State.
It may be noted that in November 2017, West Bengal had bagged the GI tag for ‘Banglar Rasogolla’ triggering an immediate reaction that Odisha lost its Rasagola battle to the neighbouring State.
The then Odisha Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera rejected 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 the Orissa High Court in February last year seeking GI tag for ‘Odisha Rasagola’ and scraping the tag received by West Bengal.
Odisha had been fighting for the GI recognition for its Rasagola by pointing out that the sweet delicacy is being offered to Lord Jagannath from time immemorial.