“ROSOGOLLA” OR “RASGULLA”- A BATTLE OF GI

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY SRABANA DUTTA, A STUDENT OF AMITY UNIVERSITY, KOLKATA

Good roads, beautiful skyscrapers and an upright economy sure make a country great, but can never serve as the roots for it. A nation is always built on the pillars of legacy, charity, tradition and an identity they created for themselves. Maybe, that is the reason the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act of 1999 was a positive step towards preserving the identity of an article based on its ethnicity.

The GI or the Geographical Indication tag is given by the Geographical Indication Registry, to indicate the place of origin of an item and its authenticity in reference to that place. Therefore, that certain place gains the recognition it deserves for the particular item which defines their uniqueness. This tag is not to be mistaken as just a cloak of pride which the particular place wears around. It has got several economic and social benefits as well. The products which are GI tagged become more expensive in the international market, thus bringing in more revenue and employment opportunities for the particular artisans or community of that place. Simultaneously, the place starts teeming with tourists and experiences high export demand. Since the items will thereafter be manufactured by the authentic community, good quality and originality is maintained, and the reputation grows.

This tag should not be confused with the Trademark, because the Trademark is enjoyed by the individual person or company who owns the rights. On the other hand, the GI tag is a tag which can be savoured by a whole community since the tag belongs to a certain regional area.  This tag can prevent someone from manufacturing and selling products by the tagged area’s name, but it cannot pre-empt someone from manufacturing that product using similar techniques. For example, the Mysore Silk is an ingenious product belonging to Karnataka, and anyone selling a product by the name of Mysore Silk anywhere out of Karnataka, is punishable by law. This tag protects the authenticity of a product and increases the economy, revenue and fame of a particular place or region.

 The tiff between the two states of West Bengal and Orissa started on the grounds of as to who should be the bearer of the prestigious tag of GI for Roshogolla. This mere cold war got heated up in the year 2017 when West Bengal got the GI tag from the GI registry office at Chennai for ‘Banglar Rosogulla”. The Chief Minister of West Bengal decided to tweet the felicitous news and celebrate this occasion of pride and benefit with the good folks of West Bengal.

Earlier in the year 2015, Odisha had already applied for the GI tag for rasgulla. Odisha Small Industries Corporation (OSIC) filed a petition demanding the geographical indication registry to change the name of the Banglar rosogulla to Jagannath Rasgulla in 2018.

They claimed that the Jagannath temple in Puri existed since the 12th century and they had been offering the rosogolla as prasad to the Gods ever since. Historians of Orissa are of the belief that rasgulla was earlier called as khir mohana which had originated in Puri. Khir mohana later became the very famous Pahala rasgulla. According to the local folklores, it is believed that Goddess Lakshmi got upset when her husband Lord Jagannath left for the traditional nine days ‘Rath Yatra” without her consent. Therefore, she locks one of the temple gates (Jai Vijay Dwar) and prevents his convoy from entering the premises. To please Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Jagannath offers her rasgullas. This was the reason for which OSIC wanted to change the name from Banglar rosogulla to Jagannath rasgulla. An Odia researcher named Asit Mohanty stated that the name of the sweet “Rasogola” had been mentioned in the Balaram Das’ text named Jagamohana Ramayana which was written in the 15^th century.

Looking at the other side of the coin, we see West Bengal claimed that rosogolla was invented by a Bengali confectioner Nobin Chandra Das. He prepared the dessert with chhena and semolina dough cooked in sweet syrup. Later, he sold the rosogollas in his own shop in Sutanuti (Bagh Bazar). His descendants claimed that the recipe used by him was original and thus it gained its popularity.

In an attempt to provide justice, the Registry gave Odisha three months to present its evidence for the above mentioned claim. But the Registry dismissed Odisha’s rectification petition, as the evidences were not presented within the stipulated time. Instead of sitting back after the petition, Bengal filed a counter statement to defend its claim. And pointed out that although Odisha came up with its evidence it was beyond its time period. Bengal did not show any counter evidences of Odisha’s evidences but challenged the technical issues.

Finally the 26 month dispute between the two states was resolved by giving two different GI tags to the two different states. In 2019, Geographical Indication registry gave GI tag to Odisha’s version of rasgulla named “Odisha Rasgulla” and West Bengal had its own “Banglar Roshogolla”. The dispute regarding the origin of rosogolla is still oblivious and maybe for good reason.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “BANGLAR ROSOGOLLA” AND “ODISHA RASGULLA”-

1. Banglar Rosogolla was invented by Nobin Chandra Das in 1862 whereas Odisha Rasgulla was used since 12^th
2. Rosogolla is white in colour and Odisha’s rasgulla is brown in colour.
3. Rosogolla is a chewy substance whereas Rasgulla does not nned any teeth pressure as it s very soft.
4. Rosogolla is sweeter than Rasgulla.

CONCLUSION-

The not so sweet battle on a sweet continued for a long time. Although both got GI tags, there are celebrities who did not pay much heed to them. Author Sanjib Chattopadhyay said that both the sweets taste same and their recipes are similar as well. He is of the opinion that wherever it is made, the delicacy will have more or less the same taste.

On the other hand famous cricketer, Jhulan Goswami has said that Banglar Rosogolla can be compared with any other sweets. She also stated that this is the tastiest sweet. Singer Raghab Chatterjee stated that Banglar Rosogolla tastes much better; Odisha’s rasgulla is sweeter and thicker. He said that the cottage cheese used in rasgulla are different than that of rosogolla.

Popular actress Rachna Banerjee when asked in an interview said that she does not find any dissimilarity in both the rasgullas. She is of the opinions that both are tasty and spongy.

So we can say that whether it originated from Bengal or Odisha, it has been successful in bringing joy and till date rules over the hearts of millions.