Thrissur: Kerala's cultural capital, Thrissur, has cemented its place in the Guinness World Records by making the longest cake in the world. A 6.5km cake was prepared along the Ramanilayam Road in Thrissur by more than 1000 chefs on Wednesday.
The gigantic cake weighed over 20 tonnes. Curious onlookers turned up in huge numbers and the organisers surprised them by gifting each of them a 1kg piece of the cake.
The Bakers' Association organised the cake-making event as part of the Night Shopping festival. Their aim was to beat the record of 3,188-metre cake made by Chinese Bakery Association in 2018.
The cake in Thrissur was five-inch wide with a height of 5.5-inch and was spread across three rows. Five chefs were present every 30 metres to prepare the cake.
The chefs of 160 units from across the state participated in the mega event. Though they aimed to complete the preparation within an hour, it took more than 2.5 hours. Organisers said that the cake weighed more than 20 tonnes.
The preparation was started by 3.30pm. The traffic along the Ramanilayam Road was partially stalled and tables were lined up on one side of the road. Thousands of people also turned up to witness the mega event.
By 5.30pm, the authorities from the Guinness World Records arrived to inspect the cake. But as the last round of works were on, they carried out the inspection only an hour later. The onlookers who viewed the proceedings patiently were rewarded with a piece of cake after the authorities were done with the inspection.
Even T M Prathapan, Member of Parliament from Thrissur, visited the site.
Akademi gates shut for mega cake; unruly scenes
However, the mega cake-making event also led to a showdown between the organisers and the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi employees. Four gates of the Akademi were closed as the cake was being prepared on the road, leading to altercation that went on for hours. Akademi secretary N Radhakrishnan were among those locked up inside the building for more than five hours.
Nataka artists and Akademi workers demanded that the cake be removed from the front of the gate. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) V K Raju tried to work out an amicable solution but to no avail.
Only after the Guinness team arrived and inspected the cake by 8:30pm, the gates were opened. With International Natakotsavam just round the corner, International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFok) workers and Akademi staff were involved in last-minute preparations.
They complained that they were not informed that the gates, both front and rear, would be shut for cake preparation. The organisers said that the gates would be opened after the cake is completed by 6pm. However, even after the said time, the gates were not opened and the Akademi employees protested. The organisers too refused to back down and pointed out that they would lose out on the record if the cake was cut to make way for the Akademi staff.
As the row escalated, the gates were locked form outside. Though the police said that they would make alternative arrangements, the employees refused to concede. With this the onlookers too teamed up with the organisers and voiced their protests against the Akademi staff. Finally, the staff, including women, were able to venture out only after 8:30pm.
