KalingaTV News Network
Bhubaneswar: As part of its efforts to collect material to push its case for Geographical Indication (GI) tag to rasagola, the Odisha Government held a high-level meeting at the Directorate of Industries conference hall here on Wednesday.
The meeting, attended by top notch officials from the Science & Technology, Agriculture, Industry and Culture departments and academics from OUAT, discussed the available options to move for GI status for the syrupy sweet.
The meeting holds significance taking into account the fact that the neighbouring state of West Bengal has already applied to the National Biodiversity Authority to claiming GI status for the sweet made there. It has claimed that it honed the skills to prepare cotton cheese used in preparing rasagola from the Portuguese intruders.
Notably, Odisha Government had formed an eight-member panel to conduct research into the origin of the rasogola its report submitted to the government last year, the committee had cited several historical and literary references to prove that the sweet had its origin in Odisha. Apart from quoting references to the sweet in Dandi Ramayan written by Balaram Das in the 16th century, the 100-page report presented by the panel also claimed that Rasogola has been a major offering to Gods in mutts and temples over the last 600 years. The sweet was being offered to the holy Trinity at the Srimandir during the Niladri Bije ritual every year from time immemorial, it had pointed out.
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