Kolkata: With over 90% of all hotels and homestays booked, Pous Mela is drawing record crowds back to Santiniketan this year. Jointly organized by Santiniketan Trust and Visva-Bharatithe fair is set to resume from Monday after a four-year hiatus. While the main fair at Purba Palli ground will be for six days, the traditional Pous Utsav established by Maharshi Devendranath and Rabindranath Tagore will be a four-day affair on the Santiniketan Ashrama premises.
Prasenjit Chowdhury, an official of Bolpur Hoteliers Association said, “After four years, we’ll do good business during Pous Mela. Almost 90% of hotels have been booked.”
The last Pous Mela organized by Visva-Bharati was in 2019, held on the Purba Palli fair ground. In 2022, an attempt was made to organize an “alternative Pous Mela”. Last year, it was held on the university grounds but was organized by the district administration.
“Those two fairs were like hundreds of other fairs. We couldn’t find the familiar flavor of the traditional Pous Mela there,” said Arpita Roy, a homemaker from Bolpur.
Subha Chitrakar had come Bolpur from Chandipur village in Eat Midnapore to sell Patachitra in 2019, the last Pous Mela, and at the two alternative Pous Melas. “This Pous Mela is unique. At the last two fairs, we couldn’t find enough sp-ace. Not many customers came because those were not ‘real’ Pous Melas. I hope for good business this year. It is a six- day fair, we can run the business for two extra days,” she said.
Prakash Das, who runs a tea stall, said: “This is the real Pous Mela.” Others, like Subhra Seal from Dankuni, reached Bolpur on Sunday itself.
Activist Subhas Dutta, who once raised environmental issues regarding Pous Mela, said, “Without the connection of Chhatimtala-Santiniketan ashram, we can’t think of Pous Mela.” Saikat Sengupta, who is going to attend Pous Mela for the first time, said: “Every year, we come back from Bengaluru and visit other places in Bengal. This year, my friends told us to come to Santiniketan during Pous Mela.”
Prasenjit Chowdhury, an official of Bolpur Hoteliers Association said, “After four years, we’ll do good business during Pous Mela. Almost 90% of hotels have been booked.”
The last Pous Mela organized by Visva-Bharati was in 2019, held on the Purba Palli fair ground. In 2022, an attempt was made to organize an “alternative Pous Mela”. Last year, it was held on the university grounds but was organized by the district administration.
“Those two fairs were like hundreds of other fairs. We couldn’t find the familiar flavor of the traditional Pous Mela there,” said Arpita Roy, a homemaker from Bolpur.
Subha Chitrakar had come Bolpur from Chandipur village in Eat Midnapore to sell Patachitra in 2019, the last Pous Mela, and at the two alternative Pous Melas. “This Pous Mela is unique. At the last two fairs, we couldn’t find enough sp-ace. Not many customers came because those were not ‘real’ Pous Melas. I hope for good business this year. It is a six- day fair, we can run the business for two extra days,” she said.
Prakash Das, who runs a tea stall, said: “This is the real Pous Mela.” Others, like Subhra Seal from Dankuni, reached Bolpur on Sunday itself.
Activist Subhas Dutta, who once raised environmental issues regarding Pous Mela, said, “Without the connection of Chhatimtala-Santiniketan ashram, we can’t think of Pous Mela.” Saikat Sengupta, who is going to attend Pous Mela for the first time, said: “Every year, we come back from Bengaluru and visit other places in Bengal. This year, my friends told us to come to Santiniketan during Pous Mela.”