BARGARH: Celebration of Holi in Western Odisha - Sambalpur and Bargarh in particular - is incomplete without offering of a traditional sweet ‘Shakar Patti’ to Maa Samaleswari, the presiding deity of the region.
The tradition, though, is fading into oblivion with only a few ‘gudia’ (a community whose traditional occupation is sweet-making) families of Lastala village in Bargarh district making the delicacy.
Made of jaggery, the traditional sweet is only prepared during this time of the year to be offered to the deity on the day of Phagun Purnima. Lastala village, 15 km from Bargarh town, was once home to 15 ‘gudia’ families which used to supply Shakar Patti throughout Western Odisha.
Of the 15, only three families from the village continue to make the sweet now. Among them, 75-year-old Suresh Chandra Sahu is the oldest sweet-maker and he has been making Shakar Patti for the last five decades with the help of his family.
The preparation is cumbersome, said Suresh, adding that a single batch of 10 kg Shakar Patti on an average, takes two days to be completely ready. The jaggery is first melted over firewood and once done, the molten liquid is cooled down to be kneaded into a dough-like consistency.
“Then comes the hardest part where the dough is clinged to a hook on the wall and stretched several times till the caramel-coloured jaggery turns golden and appears like a bundle of threads. The threads are then coiled into round shape and sun dried for a day,” said Suresh.
The Sahu family lived in Lastala but shifted to Bargarh a few years back after Suresh’s son got a job as the head clerk in SDJM Court. Though Suresh stopped making all other sweets after shifting to the town, he unfailingly prepares Shakar Patti during Holi with the purpose of keeping the tradition alive.
“Every year, we think we would not be able to make Shakar Patti because of the tiring process. But the tradition has to be kept alive and we end up doing it year after year,” said Suresh who with the help of his family starts making the sweet a month prior to Holi.
They make 10 to 20 kgs of Shakar Patti every day and on an average, produce 3 to 4 quintals every season. The quality and taste of the sweet is such that the family gets buyers from not just Bargarh but also Sambalpur, Sonepur, Balangir and Boudh districts. “The demand for Shakar Patti was even more a few years back,” said Suresh who sells a kg of Shakar Patti at `140 to `160 and makes a profit of at least Rs 25,000 on the total produce.
“This is not just a sweet but a tradition for us. I am the third generation ‘gudia’ making this sweet and now my son also makes it. Even my grandchildren are helping us in the process,” he said. Considering the tedious process, the practice of making and offering Shakar Patti to the Goddess too has been fading with time. The two other families who make the sweet have scaled down the production drastically. Although Suresh has been making it with the support of his family, he is uncertain about how long the tradition would continue.
“This tradition needs to be preserved as it is a part of our cultural history. Unfortunately, youngsters are not willing to learn how to make it and in a few years, they will forget that such a sweet even existed,” he said.