The annual ‘Poush Mela’, a heritage cultural occasion attracting lakhs of travelers to West Bengal’s Santiniketan, is not going to be held this yr on account of COVID-19 restrictions, an official stated. The over-a-century-old handicraft, handloom, artwork and music competition, is often held in December-end.
“We’re not positive about getting the nod from the native administration in view of the COVID-19 scenario. Most college students, an integral part of Poush Mela, will not be coming to the campus. Preserving all these components in thoughts, we needed to take this disagreeable determination for public well being security,” a member of Visva Bharati’s govt council stated. The choice was taken at a high-level assembly of the manager council. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore had first organized the honest in 1894 and Visva-Bharati, the college-based by the bard, began organizing it from 1951.
The ‘Poush Utsav’, together with prayers and singing of devotional songs within the varsity campus, will, nonetheless, happen (on December 23 this yr), he stated. The destiny of the Poush Mela has been a topic of conjecture in a previous couple of months, with an official of the council claiming in July that Visva-Bharati authorities had determined to scrap the occasion, citing current “bitter experiences” in organizing the winter carnival amid a tussle with merchants to adjust to Nationwide Green Tribunal (NGT) tips.
However, in late August, the varsity had stated that the central college is able to organize the honesty if it will get monetary assist from the Union authorities. The Visva-Bharati will observe its basis day on December 24, which can be attended by the Union education minister and the West Bengal governor.
