West Bengal wins ‘rossogolla war’ against Odisha

West Bengal today won its two-year-long ‘rossogolla war’ against Odisha.

Both states claimed to have invented the dessert, but it was West Bengal that obtained the ‘Geographical Indications of Goods Registration’ (GI) tag for it. That officially makes the rossogollaa Bengali invention.

The GI tag ensures that only registered and authorised users make use of a product name.

The ‘rossogolla war’ began in September 2015, after the Odisha government began celebrating ‘Rossogolla Diwas”, or ‘Rossogolla Day’, on the day that a festival called ‘Ulto Ratha’ falls.

Odisha said that according to legend, the goddess Lakshmi is annoyed when her husband Jagannatha leaves her alone at home during the ‘ratha yatra’. She then refuses to allow him in. To appease her, he presents her a bowl of rossogollas. This is the origin of the dessert, said Odisha.