Chandannagar’s jalbhara gets GI tag: The 220-year-old Bengali sweet that began as a wedding prank

A burst of syrup, a groom caught off guard, Rabindranath Tagore’s approval, and a confectioner’s inventive imagination. The story of Chandannagar’s newly GI-tagged jalbhara tells us how craftsmanship, memory, and an entire town learn to survive inside a sandesh that disappears in two bites