The ‘khaja’ of Puri is as legendary as the Lord Himself is. Or for that matter, the beaches of the holy town are. Since the beginning of Jagannath culture, ‘khaja’, a sweet item, has found place as one of the major ‘prasad’ of the three deities of the Jagannath Temple also known as Shree Mandir. And the love of ‘khaja’ or the aura around it has not diminished one bit, despite a sea change in the likes of people in general. Rather, day by day, the craze of ‘khaja’ has grown among the local people and tourists.
Generally, two kinds of ‘prasad’ is prepared and served to the residing deities of the temple. Sankhudibhog or the cooked prasad includes a variety of rice, lentils, curries, kheer and many other preparations without using onion and garlic. Similarly, sukhilabhog or dry prasad includes different kinds of dry and sweet confectionaries like khaja, magajaladdu and a dozen of more choices.
As history has it, the sweet and crunchy ‘khaja’ prepared from refined flour and sugar used to be prepared in large quantities and distributed among the devotees after being served to Lord Jagannath and other deities.ent declaration, the State Government has granted industry status to Khaja, thus making it flexible for the entire production and procurement process of this sweet delicacy. In order to facilitate the Khaja business, this is really an amazing move on part of the Government and the decision has duly been welcomed by both the shop owners as well as the local residents. That apart, in the near future, there might also be plans for application of Geographic Indication tag for Khaja.
Generally, two kinds of ‘prasad’ is prepared and served to the residing deities of the temple. Sankhudibhog or the cooked prasad includes a variety of rice, lentils, curries, kheer and many other preparations without using onion and garlic. Similarly, sukhilabhog or dry prasad includes different kinds of dry and sweet confectionaries like khaja, magajaladdu and a dozen of more choices.
As history has it, the sweet and crunchy ‘khaja’ prepared from refined flour and sugar used to be prepared in large quantities and distributed among the devotees after being served to Lord Jagannath and other deities.ent declaration, the State Government has granted industry status to Khaja, thus making it flexible for the entire production and procurement process of this sweet delicacy. In order to facilitate the Khaja business, this is really an amazing move on part of the Government and the decision has duly been welcomed by both the shop owners as well as the local residents. That apart, in the near future, there might also be plans for application of Geographic Indication tag for Khaja.
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