A Geographical Indication dispute has emerged between the neighbouring states of Odisha and West Bengal over the origin of Rasgulla, a well-known Indian confectionery. In May 2015, the Odisha government initiated steps to obtain a GI tag for the traditional brown Pahala Rasgullas produced in Pahala, a locality situated on National Highway No. 5 between the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Pahala has more than 100 shops selling this variety.<\/p>\n
The State Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises asked the District Industries Centre in Cuttack to initiate the GI application process. Consultations were held to structure the process and it was decided that, following the necessary surveys, approvals, and procedural requirements, a GI application for the Pahala Rasgulla would be filed within three months.<\/p>\n
The announcement prompted West Bengal to assert its own claim. Animekh Roy, the great-grandson of noted confectioner Nobin Chandra Das, claimed that Rasgulla was invented by Nobin Chandra Das in 1868 and was subsequently popularised by the sweetmeat chain K.C. Das, established by his son. Priests of the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha, maintained that Rasgulla had originated from the temple, where it has formed part of religious rituals since the twelfth century.<\/p>\n
Commentary at the time questioned whether Rasgulla in general, and Pahala Rasgullas in particular, could qualify for Geographical Indication status. There was also uncertainty in published reports as to whether Odisha was seeking GI protection specifically for Pahala Rasgullas or whether West Bengal was asserting the origin of the common white variety. The two varieties are materially distinct: Pahala Rasgullas are brown in colour, soft rather than spongy, and notably less sweet, on account of the thin sugar syrup used in their preparation. Their shelf life is reported to be no more than one day, unlike the white Rasgulla made with a thick sugar syrup.<\/p>\n
In September 2015, West Bengal filed an application for the GI tag for Rasgullas. As of the time of writing, Odisha had not filed a corresponding application. The matter remains unresolved, with the outcome of the GI proceedings yet to be determined.<\/p>\n
This article is for general information and does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult a qualified attorney before acting on any matter discussed here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Odisha and West Bengal are contesting the origin and GI status of Rasgulla, with both states presenting cultural and historical claims. The legal dispute underscores the complexities of Geographical Indication protection for traditional Indian sweets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":83,"footnotes":""},"categories":[185,6],"tags":[184,7097,7525,7522,7524,7521,7523],"class_list":["post-30175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geographical-indications-gi","category-intellectual-property","tag-geographical-indication","tag-gi-tag","tag-indian-sweets","tag-odisha","tag-pahala-rasgulla","tag-rasgulla","tag-west-bengal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30175"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149915,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30175\/revisions\/149915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}