Krishnagar, Sept. 28: The sweet-makers of Nadia have sought the geographical indication (GI) status for the sarpuria and the sarbhaja, two sweets associated with the district.

An organisation representing the sweet-makers has appealed to the Bengal government to lobby the Centre on this count.

Bengal science and technology minister Asish Banerjee said his department had received the application submitted by the sweets manufacturers from Krishnagar and it was being "examined and processed" before being sent to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board in Chennai, the central government authority that issues the GI tag.

"After the sarpuria and the sarbhaja are included in the GI registry, it will be announced by the state government. We will be happy if the two traditional sweets of Nadia get the GI status," Banerjee said.

The GI is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (for example a town, region or country). The use of a geographical indication acts as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, is made according to traditional methods and enjoys a certain reputation because of its geographical origin.

Ten items from Bengal have received the GI status so far. They are Darjeeling tea, Nakshi kantha, Santipur sari, Baluchari sari, Dhaniakhali sari, Joynagarer moa, Santiniketan leather goods and three varieties of mangoes - Laxman Bhog, Himsagar and Fazli.

Sarpuria is made by mixing cottage cheese (chhana) with sugar, kheer, groundnut, cardamom, pistachio and saffron and steaming it. Sarbhaja is fried cottage cheese and kheer layered with cream (sar) and dipped in sugar syrup.

The assistant secretary of the Krishnagar Mistanna Byabsayee Welfare Samiti, Tapas Das, said that while applying for the GI registration, "we submitted a brief history of the sarpuria and the sarbhaja and references to the two sweets in the ancient literature of Nadia".

Das said the two sweetmeats had been mentioned in Krishnadas Kabiraj's 16th century hagiography on Sri Chaitanya - Srichaitanya Charitamrita.

Sarpuria is also mentioned in Hasir Gaan, a book authored by poet and playwright Dwijendralal Roy.

Goutam Das, the owner of the 100-year-old Adhar Chandra Das and Sons in Krishnagar, said: "We welcome the initiative taken by our samiti. Both the sarpuria and the sarbhaja are ancient sweetmeats of the district and they deserve the GI tag."