Puri: Srijagannath Sena, a cultural outfit from the Holy City, Tuesday applied for Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Srijagannath rasagolla at the office of Intellectual Property India in Chennai.
Outfit convener Priyadarshan Pattnaik and Srimandir servitor Raju Mahabhoi submitted the application along with some documents to the authorities concerned. It is learnt that Intellectual Property India chief Chinna Raju Naidu accepted the application. “Authorities of Intellectual Property India accepted our application for GI tag to Srijagannath rasagolla. But, they can take a call on the issue if the state government moves a formal application,” said Pattnaik.
Sources said the outfit submitted several documents to claim that Srimandir servitors have been offering rasagolla to Lord Jagannath for the last several centuries. “Servitors were using sugarcane juice and molasses to prepare rasagolla before the arrival of modern-day sugar,” told the outfit to the Intellectual Property India officials.
According to sources, Naidu expressed his desire to organise a workshop on intellectual property rights in Orissa. “We have urged Naidu to organise the workshop in Puri and visit the Jagannath temple,” Pattnaik said.
PNN