West Bengal: ‘Poush Mela’ to be organised in Santiniketan, but by Birbhum administration

Bolpur (WB), Dec 8 (PTI) The century-old ‘Poush Mela’ will be organised by the Birbhum district administration this year after Visva-Bharati and Santiniketan Trust called it off, citing a lack of time to prepare, a senior official said on Friday.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, district magistrate Bidhan Roy told reporters.

“We have resolved unanimously to organise Poush Mela. We’ll appeal to Visva-Bharati to allow us to organise the fair at the Purba Palli ground, also known as Melar Math, on the campus. If they do not give permission, the fair will be organised at the Dak Bungalow ground in Bolpur as was done in the last two years,” he said.

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The fair, held on the seventh day of Bengali month ‘Poush’ which falls in late December, was first organised by ‘Maharshi’ Debendranath Tagore, father of Visva-Bharati founder Rabindranath Tagore, in 1894 to showcase the handicrafts, heritage and culture of Bengal, particularly Birbhum.

Since 1951, the ‘Poush Mela’ has been organised by the Visva-Bharati university in collaboration with the trust and with support from the West Bengal government. The trust, set up by Debendranath Tagore, owns around 11 bighas in and around the campus of the central varsity.

The varsity did not organise the fair over the last three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a raging tiff between then Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty and the state government.

Earlier this week, the Visva-Bharati and the Santiniketan Trust said they do not seem feasible to hold the fair this year despite “all the good intentions”.

The decision to not go ahead with the fair was taken at a meeting attended by three Santiniketan Trust members, including former officiating VC Sabujkali Sen, members of the executive council of the varsity, academics and administrative officials.

After the decision was announced, a group of people under the banner of ‘Poush Mela Banchao Committee’ barged into the Visva-Bharat campus after overpowering the security personnel and staged a demonstration. Among them were some local businessmen, and members of an NGO. PTI CORR SOM

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