Kolkata/Suri: The Pous Mela at Santiniketan will be held from Dec 23 to 28 at the Purba Palli Mela Ground this year. It will be organised jointly by Visva-Bharati (VB) and Santiniketan Trust.
It was decided at a meeting on Thursday between members of Santiniketan Trust, members of VB's Pous Mela organising committee, and the district administration.
The booking of the stalls, which is to be done through an online portal, will start from Dec 15. The mela ground must be cleaned within 48 hours after the closure of the Pous Mela, following the National Green Tribunal (NGT) guidelines. "It was jointly decided that a team of police and the mela committee will daily check the presence of the true owner of the stalls during Pous Mela 2025," reads the VB statement. "On the first two days of booking of stalls, only the individuals or institutions who booked stalls in the last Pous Mela will be allowed to book their space. From Dec17, stall booking will be opened for all," an official said. The fair, started by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore in 1894, was stopped in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, Bolpur Municipality and district administration organised an alternative fair at Dak Bungalow ground. In 2023, the Pous Mela was organised at the Purba Palli Mela ground by the state govt. In 2021 and subsequently VB had distanced itself from the fair.