Historic ‘Poush Mela’ of Santiniketan may return this year, meeting held

Kolkata/ Bolpur: A meeting was held between the Santiniketan Trust and the Visva-Bharati on Tuesday for organising the historic ‘Poush Mela’, which was not held over the last few years.

The trust, which was set up by Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother Debendranath Tagore, said the meeting was positive, and all stakeholders, including the Bengal government, were keen to organise the fair this time.

The fair is usually organised by the Visva-Bharati in collaboration with the trust and assistance of the state government.

The trust told the central varsity to look into providing certain amenities, such as drinking water, during the fair.

It also said that a software was developed by IIT-Kharagpur for assistance in the allocation of stalls and collection of rent, but its licence has expired.

The software is essential for organising the fair, it added.

Visva-Bharati spokesperson Mahua Bandyopadhyay said that meetings have been held over organising the fair, but nothing has been finalised.

The Poush Mela, usually held in December or the Bengali month of ‘Poush’, was first organised by Debendranath Tagore in 1894 to showcase the indigenous handicrafts, heritage and culture of rural Bengal. It could not be held in 1943 due to the Bengal famine and in 1946 due to the Great Calcutta Killings.

The fair was also not held from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a raging tiff between then Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty and the state government.