Surat: The diamond city, also known as the city of bridges, is celebrating Chandi Padva today, which falls on the day after Sharad Purnima every year according to the Hindu calendar. On this festival, Surtis have a custom of indulging in a sweet called ‘Ghaari’ along with a local delicacy known as Bhusu.

During the day on Thursday, many small and large shops in the city were crowded with people buying Ghaari. According to estimates from sweet traders, one and a half lakh kilograms of Ghaari worth over Rs. 10 crores will be sold in the market this year for Chandani Padva. This year, a unique Ghaari featuring gold foil is also in demand. This Golden Ghaari weighs around 100 grams and is priced at Rs. 1,100 per piece, while 1 kg of Golden Ghaari is available for Rs. 11,000.

Discussing the difference between regular Ghaari and Golden Ghaari, the regular Ghaari is made from Maida and Mava while the Golden Ghaari is made from cashew flour instead of Maida. Not only does it contain premium dry fruits, but the saffron is specially ordered from Kashmir, and gold foil is applied to the Ghaari. The demand for this Ghaari extends beyond Surat to other cities across the country, including US, Canada, Australia, and London.

Himanshubhai Sukhdia, a seller of Golden Ghaari, stated, “In ancient times, kings and princes used gold bhasma in food. Inspired by that, we have prepared Golden Ghaari with gold foil, which is also very beneficial for health. The specialty of this Ghaari is that it does not spoil for 10 days. The price of regular Ghaari per kg ranges from Rs. 600 to Rs. 1,500. In contrast, the price of a single Golden Ghaari is Rs. 1,100.”

The tradition of juagalbandi between Ghaari and Chandni Padvo dates back to the 19th century when Tatya Tope sought refuge in Surat and was offered Ghaari sweet by Devshankar Ghaarivala.

According to locals, Tatya Tope enjoyed Ghaari so much that he requested Ghaarivala to provide it for his entire army. This request was honored, and on the evening of Chandni Padvo, Tope’s entire army was treated to Ghaari sweets. Thus began the custom of enjoying Ghaari in large gatherings on ‘Aaso Vad Padvo’ (Chandni Padvo).

Devshankar Ghaarivala’s shop, located near Lal Gate, was eventually replaced by Choryashi Dairy in 1956, which still operates today.

Another family in Surat, the Jamnadas Ghaarivala family, has been in the Ghaari business for over a century. The fifth generation of this family is represented by Kunjan Ghaarivala. “Earlier, Ghaari was made using pure mawa (a milk and sugar product), but nowadays we add dry fruits upon request and offer Ghaari in various flavors,” Kunjan explained. DeshGujarat