Page 1 of 5
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 34
Impact of Indian Festivals on Sweets
SANJIB KUMAR DEY
Senior Lecturer
Institute of Hotel Management
Tilyar Lake Rohtak – 124001
Mob- 8816077036
Email- sanjibdeyihmrohtak@gmail.com
Abstract: Indian prefers sweets in every occasion. Festival is a part of Indian culture. Whenever
a festival arrives people feel like celebrating the festival with sweets. Togetherness in sharing
sweets is common in Indian home. It is to emphasis that festivals promote sweet making or
sweets sales in India. Festivals with season change the eagerness toward sweet consumption.
Home made sweets are best as compare to commercially made sweets. It is incomplete to have
a festival without sweets. Even on birth of newly born baby sweet conveys happiness.
Keywords: festivals, sweets, celebrations, Indian culture.
Introduction: India seems to be in a perpetual state of celebration. There is always some
community celebrating a harvest, a special god’s birthday or an auspicious date in the Hindu
calendar. India’s most favorite sweets are: Gulab Jamoon, Gajjar Ka Halwa, Sandesh, Modak,
Shrikhand, Payasam, Kaju Ki Barfi, Shahi tukra, Phirni, Kulfi, Puran Puli. No Indian festival or
celebration is complete without a plateful of mithai. Milkcake, Kalakand, Besan ki Barfi, Naryial
Laddoo, Balushahi, Mysore pak, Ghevar.
But interest toward western sweets are increasing now like mousse cake, tiramisu, brownie etc.
India has too many varieties of sweets state wise, each a person may not taste the entire item
through in his life. Due to availability of ingredients or costlier cooks, Indian sweets are sold at
very higher price. Western sweets are comparably easy to prepare those Indian sweets.
Page 2 of 5
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 35
Degree of difficulties in Indian sweets is more. People have become health conscious toward
calorie intake. Mothers have shortage of time, so they can effort to make Indian sweets at
home on celebration only.
There are 100 recipes of western desserts and the secret of Indian still limited to mothers or
sweets makers. There is no standard recipe for Indian sweets so it is difficult for new learner
too. The mindset of Indian culture is they like to eat those sweets only which they have eating
since childhood in their celebration.
Review of Literature: A new trend is noticed Indian ingredients are being substituted with
western ingredients. Indian have mind –boggling range of sweets to satisfy their demand for
sweets. Most of the sweets are sickly sweet and some of the mass produced kinds are just plain
yuk.
Home made sweets are more refined than the shop bought. Nevertheless, sweets are an
effective form of baksheesh (tips/ bribe/ sweetener) and make popular gifts.
Apart from Bengalis, Indians only eat sweets on festive occasion. However, such occasions
come around so often that there is not much willpower require. Every Indian has their own
favorite sweets shops, some of which are so famous we will be lucky to get through the door
during festivals times.
Hindu festivals are Holi, Pongal, Sankranti, Diwali, Dusserha, Durga Puja, Ganesh Chaturthi,
Janmashtami, Raksha Bandhan, Onam.
Non Hindu festivals are Navroj (Parsi new year, Ramadan and Id- Ul-Fitr, Id- Ul- Zuhara,
Christmas,
Ghevar: It sweet dish shaped dessert dipped in sugar syrup and topped with mawa, specially
made in the month of august in Rajasthan.
Gajjar ka halwa: Grated carrots cooked in milk and with lots of desi ghee, specialty prepared in
Lohri.
Page 3 of 5
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 36
Sandesh: Made with cottage cheese, cardamom and saffron in Dussera, from west Bengal
Modak: Sweet rice flour dumplings filled with a delicious paste of coconut, condenses milk,
sugar and cardamom) prepared in ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra.
Shrikhand: Hung curd sweetened and flavored with kesar and cardamom, famous in
Maharashtrian and Gujratis
Payasam: Rice pudding, prepared in Onam, famous in Kerala.
Shahi tukra: Fried breads soaked with sweetened milk and topped with mawa from Lucknow.
Puran puli: Flat bread stuffed with a sweet lentil filling made from Chana dal and sugar,
prepared in Ganesh Chaturthi, Maharashtra
Karanjis: Crescent shaped flour percel with sweet mawa, prepared in Holi, in north India
Pongal: A rice preparation with the first rice along with jiggery, nuts, raisin, and spices,
prepared in Pongal in Tamilnadu.
Gulab jamoon: Made with khoya, paneer, kesar and cardamom etc, made into balls and dipped
in sugar syrup), Diwali special.
Rasgolla: Ball shaped chhena pudding paoched in light sugar syrup, from west Bengal, special
sweets of durga puja
Ravo: made with Semolina, milk and sugar, navroj, Parsis favorite
X mass pudding: Assorted soaked fruit cake, specialty of x- mass
Mysore pak: Main ingredients are besan, sugar and lots of desi ghee, prepared in Diwali in
Karnataka.
Til pitha : made from sesame seeds in Assam, especially in Bihu
Parsi sev : preparaed with vermiselli , served in Parsis Navjoz.
Palathalikulu : cooked rice flour dough , broken in pieces with thump, cooked in milk, coconut ,
jiggery etc, specially prepared in Diwali in Andhrapradesh.
Chennapora : burnt cottage cheese cake , prepared usually on Durgapuja in Orissa.
Thekua : Prasad made in famous chat puja performed by biharis all over india.
Phirnee : in Kashmir phirnee is prepared with suji, usually flavored with saffron.
