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Tucked away in south Kolkata’s Debnarayan Banerjee Road, near the bustling Kalighat temple, is a sweet shop that has defied the tides of time and trends. Haran Majhi Sweets, more than 160 years old, is one of those rare places where tradition is not just preserved, but practised daily. The star of this story? A flat rosogolla known as ‘Kheermohan’.
“Our most popular item is the Kheermohan, also called ‘chapta rosogolla’,” said Bubai Majhi, the fourth-generation co-owner of the shop, which is named after his great-grandfather Haran Chandra Majhi. “It tastes exactly like a regular rosogolla, but it is flat. Elders in the family say this sweet was invented in Odisha, though we are not exactly sure how it found its way to Kolkata.”
While rosogolla is a familiar sweet across West Bengal and Odisha, the chapta version is rarely seen in modern sweet shops. But at Haran Majhi Sweets, this is more than just a shape; it’s a symbol of legacy.
The sweet’s Odisha connection also evokes parallels with Niladri Bije, the concluding ritual of the Rath Yatra, where Lord Jagannath presents Goddess Lakshmi with these chapta rosogollas before entering the temple as a symbol of peace. However, some contend, it was the regular rosogolla. It was a symbolic gesture of harmony and return. Interestingly, at Haran Majhi Sweets, too, the idea of divine connection runs deep.
“Our forefather had a dream in which Goddess Kali told him to send sweets to the Kalighat temple daily as bhog. Since then, it has been our ritual. Every day, sweets go from our shop to the temple,” said Bubai, who runs the shop with his elder brother Rajkumar Majhi.
Stepping into the shop is like stepping into the history of old Calcutta. The sweets are displayed in large aluminium containers inside wooden glass-fronted cupboards. From totapuri to kanchagolla, chomchom to different types of sandesh, the range may not be extensive, but every piece is handcrafted with care at the shop.
“We have never tried to modernise the shop. People come here not just for the taste, but for the experience. It’s the same matted ceiling, same counter, and mostly the same recipes,” said Bubai.
