Berhampur: ‘Dhanu Muan’, a traditional crunchy sweet made from puffed brown rice and caramelised jaggery or sugar, flooded Berhampur market in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Monday on the occasion of ‘Dhanu Sankranti’.
Dahnu Sankranti marks the beginning of Odia month of Pausa. Dhanu Muan is sold for one month from ‘Dhanu Sankranti’ to ‘Makar Sankranti’ in January every year. More than 5000 kg of ‘muan’, prepared with desi ghee and topped with coconut flakes, cashews, almonds, groundnuts and other ingredients, are sold in the city everyday.
Dhanu Muan is considered the most favourite food item of Goddess Tara Tarini and Goddess Budhi Thakurani of Berhampur. The sweet item is prepared in the district for ritualistic offering to the deities on Dhanu Sankranti. The farmers offer the ‘Muan’ to the Goddess to be blessed for another bumper crop next year. They also present the ‘Muan’ to their family members, relatives residing outside and friends as a goodwill gesture.
While different varieties of ‘Muan’ including ‘Sada Muan’, ‘Masala Muan’, ‘Ghee Muan’, ‘Kaju Muan’, ‘Guda Muan’ and others have flooded the market, ‘Ghee Muan’ is in great demand, said some manufactures. Balaji Mistan Bhandar, Mukta Sweets and Sahu Sweets are rolling out the highest quantities of Ghee Muan in Berhampur.
The price of ‘Dhanu Muan’ has gone up this year due to rise in the price of the ingredients. Special Ghee Muan is being sold at Rs 500 per kg. However, other Muans are priced at Rs 240 per kg, sources said.
Anataram Kar Kaundinya, a researcher of culture and history of Ganjam, said the ‘muan’ dates back to more than 200 years. The ‘Gudia’ community, which generally prepares sweets as per family tradition, used ‘Magura’, a scented and hard variety of paddy produced near Berhampur, to make puffed rice.
The ‘muan’ was prepared from the new paddy after the harvest. The Gudias used to supply the Muan to every household throughout the month to facilitate the villagers to offer it to the Goddess and receive paddy from them in return.
The ‘Sadhabas’ (traders), who sailed from Odisha coast and travelled throughout Southeast Asia for maritime trade, also took ‘Muan’ from Ganjam with them, he said.
