Holi special: Lucknow sweet shop sells India's largest gujiya. It weighs 6 kg. Watch

The executor of India Book of Record, Pramil Dwivedi, said, 'This gujiya breaks all the records.' (Image credit: ANI)

Ahead of Holi, a sweet shop in Lucknow has prepared the country's largest gujiya that has even been registered in the India Book of Records. The 25-inch sweet -- a favourite during the festival of colours -- weighs 6 kg and has been named "Maha Kumbh".

Speaking to news agency ANI, the marketing head of the store, Kshitij Gupta said, "Many of the festivals all over India are being celebrated. We had Maha Kumbh this year, which is of huge significance. We try to dedicate things which are closer to the people, and hence, we have prepared this 'Maha Kumbh' gujiya."

The executor of India Book of Records, Pramil Dwivedi, said, "This gujiya breaks all the records. After the shop owner made the claim, we searched and found that such gujiya was never prepared earlier."

#WATCH | A sweet shop in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh prepared India's largest Gujiya (25 inches, weighing 6 kg) on the occasion of #Holi and entered its name in the India Book of Records (12/03) pic.twitter.com/bhG2IUeK8I
ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2025

Brief history of gujiya in India

Gujiya is eaten year-round but during the two-day Holi festival, consumption jumps through the roof. Ram Asrey Sweets in the heart of Lucknow sells at least 500 kilos of gujiyas on the days when India is drenched in colours.

The sweet flourished in 16th-century Braj (a region with Mathura and Vrindavan at its core), where it is dusted with cardamom and offered as prasad to Lord Krishna. At Vrindavan’s Radha Raman temple, serving gujiya and Chandrakala as part of the temple thali is a 500-year-old tradition.

Gujiya may have ‘originated’ in Uttar Pradesh, but the classic sweet has been adopted in many parts of India which have made it their own. “It must have travelled from UP to Rajasthan at some point,” Akshraj Jodh, executive chef - ITC Grand Bharat, culinary historian, told Moneycontrol. “In some parts of Rajasthan, people make Chandrakala and Suryakala, two different versions of gujiya, on Holi.”