Sourav Ganguly - About Rasagola Origin

By now, many must have watched cricketer Sourav Ganguly's latest 2022 video about Rasagola and seen his acknowledgment that Rasagola belongs to Odisha.

It has been well-shared by the media.

But, do you know what was shared in the Dadagiri show by Sourav Ganguly a decade ago in 2011?

Watch the "Maharajah of Cricket", Sourav Ganguly, sharing about the "King of Sweets"-Rasagola in his popular show- "DADAGIRI" - on Bengali channel - in 2011 & 2022:

What Sourav Ganguly Said About Rasagola Origin in 2011 & 2022 | Dadagiri |

Whenever Rasagola is discussed, many feel it is an unimportant issue.

But, thanks to our media representatives and media, who have now realized the importance and keep sharing the statements of important personalities about our important heritage products.

When we first started celebrating #RasagolaDibasa on social media from 2015 onwards, and then worked for the GI application for "Odisha Rasagola", many felt it was worthless.

Many still feel the same.

However, no one can deny that Rasagola is an identity and cultural symbol of our Odisha state.

A To Z Twitter Rasagola #TwitterRasagola

For this year's April A2Z theme, I had been planning some topics. 

My last year's theme was #RasagolaA2Z where I had shared posts about Rasagola. 

Rasagola is a delectable dessert that originated in Odisha, India. The main ingredients are cottage-cheese and sugar-syrup. 

Also called and pronounced in several different ways viz. Rasgulla, Rasagula, Rasogolla, Rosogolla etc., Rasagola is called the 'King of Sweets'.

We have been celebrating a day for Rasagola or Rasagola Day as- "Rasagola Dibasa #RasagolaDibasa" on social media from 2015 Nabakalebara Ratha Yatra onwards. 

It helped in creating awareness about the connection of Rasagola with Odisha and also about the centuries-old ritual- Niladri Bije of Odisha. Our celebration and promotion also generated interest for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

Odisha earned the GI tag for "Odisha Rasagola" on July 29, 2019.

The following image from Google Trends shows the spike in the search for Rasagola on the same dates

Rasagola- Odia And Odisha Origin

Recently, Kalinga TV, a leading news channel of Odisha, aired a special programme about Rasagola in its Kalinga Swatantra show (on 27th November 2021 and repeat on 28th and 29th November 2021).

The show's title is in Odia - "Rasagola Kahuchhi Mu Odia".

In English, it means- "Rasagola says I'm Odia."

The show is about the Rasagola origin issue following the Twitter trend #RasagolaDibasa, and also about the Odisha Rasagola Geographical Indication (GI) application and registration. Kalinga TV has documented the views of some stakeholders- historians, authors, researchers, general public, and Rasagola shop owners and sellers, who all have shared about Rasagola's antiquity and association with Odisha.

Some of the personalities, who have been interviewed, and have shared their views in the video are- Prof Pushpesh Pant, Dr. Bhaskar Mishra, Dr. Sarat Kumar Mohanty, Shri Bhakta Tripathy, Shri Santosh Sahu, Dr. Asit Mohanty, Shri Bimbadhar Behera, Shri Satyabrat Mohanty, Shri Manoj Patra, Ms. Saipriya... and yours truly.

It has been uploaded yesterday on YouTube-

Rasagola Aamara - End of Discussion? #EndRasgullaDebate

It is truly satisfying to see the confident answer of singer Sthitipadma Dash and the reactions. In the audition round of Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, a leading singing reality show, filmed at Mumbai, Sthitipadma encountered a sweet question on the stage the moment she introduced herself as from “Cuttack, Odisha”. Judges- singer-cum- music-composers Vishal Dadlani and Shankar Mahadevan immediately turned to the third judge, singer-cum-music-composer, Himesh Reshammiya, who asked her in Hindi- “Rasgulla Kiska Hai?”i.e. whom does Rasagola belong?

Sthitipadma confidently answered,  “I wouldn’t like to take the things further but Jay Jagannath, Rasagola Aamara (Rasagola is ours)- End of discussion.”. 

Everyone cheered.