Rasgulla (literally "syrup filled ball")[a] is a syrupy dessert popular in the eastern part of South Asia.

[4] In 2017, when West Bengal got its rosogolla's geographical indication (GI) status, the Registry Office of India clarified that West Bengal was given GI status for Banglar rosogolla and Odisha can claim it too if they cite the place of origin of their variant along with colour, texture, taste, juice content and method of manufacturing.

This ritual, known as Bachanika, is part of the "Niladri Bije" (or "Arrival of the God") observance, which marks the return of the deities to the temple after the Ratha Yatra.

[25] According to Asit Mohanty, an Odia research scholar on Jagannath cult and traditions, the sweet is mentioned as "Rasagola" in the 15th-century text Jagamohana Ramayana of Balaram Das.

[17] According to another theory, it is possible that the Bengali visitors to Puri might have carried the recipe for rasgulla back to Bengal in the nineteenth century.

[35] According to Nobin Chandra Das' descendant Animikh Roy and historian Haripada Bhowmik, rasgulla is not even mentioned as one of the chhappan bhog ("56 offerings") in the early records of the Temple; the name of the sweet was coined in Bengal.

Sri Chaitanya loved this type of rasagulla a lot and the art of its making was spread to other regions during the Bhakti movement.

[38] The spongy, white rôśôgolla is believed to have been introduced in present-day West Bengal in 1868 by a Kolkata-based confectioner named Nobin Chandra Das.

In Banglar Khabar (1987), food historian Pranab Ray states that a man named Braja Moira had introduced rôśôgolla in his shop near Calcutta High Court in 1866, two years before Das started selling the dish.

[41] In1906, Panchana Bandopadhyay wrote that rôśôgolla was invented in the 19th century by Haradhan Moira, a Phulia-based sweetmaker who worked for the Pal Chowdhurys of Ranaghat.

[41] Food historian Michael Krondl states that irrespective of its origin, the rôśôgolla likely predates Nobin Chandra Das.

A sales brochure of the company run by Das' descendants also hints at this: "it is hard to tell whether or not cruder versions of similar sweets existed anywhere at that time.

"[37] Bhagwandas Bagla, a Marwari businessman and a customer of Nobin Chandra Das, popularised the Bengali rôśôgolla beyond the shop's locality by ordering huge amounts.

Today, canned rasgullas are available throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as in South Asian grocery stores outside the Indian subcontinent.

[47] In August, West Bengal decided to legally contest Odisha's move to obtain GI Status.

Noted journalist and food researcher Bhakta Tripathy and a member of the committee had submitted dossier containing historical evidence of rasgulla origin in Odisha.

Due to rasgulla becoming associated with Bengali cuisine, the Odisha Milk Federation has tried to popularise chhena poda as the signature Odia dessert.