A stall display at Poush Mela-Santiniketan-West Bengal

Poush Mela ( bn, পৌষ মেলা) is an annual fair and festival that takes place in

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

, in

Birbhum District Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other imp ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

, marking the harvest season. Commencing on the 7th day of the month of Poush, the fair officially lasts for three days, although vendors may stay until the month-end as per the university regulations. From 2017 onwards, the fair lasted for six days. The key characteristic of this fair include live performances of Bengali folk music, such as

baul The Baul ( bn, বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism, Vaishnavism and Tantra from Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls cons ...

, kirtan and Kobigan.

Background

Devendranath Tagore with twenty followers accepted the

Brahmo Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as unpa ...

creed from Ram Chandra Vidyabagish on 21 December 1843 (7 Poush 1250 according to the Bengali calendar). This was the basis of ''Poush Utsav'' (the Festival of Poush) at SantiniketanBasak, Tapan Kumar, ''Rabindranath-Santiniketan-Sriniketan (An Introduction)'', p. 36, B.B.Publication A ''Brahma mandir'' was established at Santiniketan on 21 December 1891 (7 Poush 1298 according to the Bengali calendar). A small fair was organised in 1894 in connection with the establishment anniversary of the ''Brahma mandir'', in the ground opposite the mandir. What started as a small homely Poush Mela now attracts attention of not only the people of

Birbhum district Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other imp ...

but tourists from all around. From 1894 onwards, the Poush Mela has been organized every year. However it has been put on halt for three times due to the Bengal Famine of 1943, Direct Action Day of 1946 and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In earlier days the ''mela'' (fair) was held in the ground on the north side of ''Brahma mandir'' (also referred to as glass temple). On that day, a firework display was held in earlier days after evening prayers. As the ''mela'' increased in size, it was shifted to the field in Purbapalli.

Inauguration

Poush Utsav is inaugurated on 7 Poush (around 23 December). At dawn, Santiniketan wakes up to the soft music of

shehnai The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.

Other days

Poush Mela is characterized by the live performances of Bengali folk music, especially the baul music. It includes folk songs, dances and tribal sports. This fair offers a perfect insight of the true heritage of the state. The students of Santiniketan present their magnificent performance and make this festival more enjoyable and glamorous. Each day of this festival is filled with different activities. The last day of this fair is devoted to those who are related to Santiniketan.

The fair

Some 1,500 stalls take part in the fair. The number of tourists pouring in for the three-day fair is around 10,000. Government statistics put the daily inflow of tourists in to Santiniketan at around 3,500 per day; but during major festival such as Pous Utsav, Basanta Utsav, Rabindra Paksha, and Naba Barsha it goes up to an average 40,000 per day or more. Obviously, many of them do stay back in Santiniketan, which has 85 lodges with accommodation for 1,650. Beside of this, room on rent can be hired for some days. Local printed fabrics and handicrafts are available in the stalls erected during the fair. Besides materials of household interest, toys are also available here. Various food stalls are also found.

References

External links