From the bylanes of Kolkata's Baghbazar and the holy city of Puri to almost all sweet shops across the country, rasgullas continue to remain one of India's most-loved food inventions. In West Bengal, children grew up listening to stories of entrepreneur Nobin Chandra Das, who in 1868 supposedly altered the oeuvre of Bengali sweets with 'rosogolla', as they call the sweetmeat. Understandably, it became a symbol of all things Bengali. Enter Odisha, the neighbouring state which insists its 'rasagola' was first served in Bhubaneswar's iconic Jagannath Temple in the 12th century. This also finds mention in works of Balram Das, a 15th century poet. So, case closed? Quite not.

For decades, both West Bengal and Odisha have wanted a bigger piece of the pie; each staking their claim over the famed dessert. But it was only in 2015 that the sweet found itself a part of a legal tussle. This was when both state governments demanded a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. World Intellectual Property Organisation says: "A geographical indication is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin."