Pous Mela is the largest, most-publicised and well-attended festival of this region. It is in this mela that Baul singers from various parts of the country come to participate. Students from Visva-Bharati, sing Baul numbers in the festival.

Baul culture is an integral part of the folk culture of Bengal. Baul singers are a separate community unto themselves transcending the barriers of religion and country. A large number of Bauls hailing from Bangladesh participate in the festival. Baul culture is a perfect manifestation of communal harmony. Baul singers speak the language of the masses. This annual jamboree attracts thousands of tourists from foreign lands.

Paus Mela, a major landmark on the Bengali’s cultural calendar is almost as old as Santiniketan. On the Seventh day of Pous in late December of 1843, Maharshi Debendranath Tagore became a Brahmo under the tutelage of Ram Chandra Bidyabagish. This was the first such formal conversion of a Hindu into a Brahmo. In two years’ time, by 1845, there were over 500 new converts and the Maharshi felt the need for organising the new converts into a formal organisation. Since the new converts were dispersed all over the country, a need was felt to organise a convention or fair where they could congregate. Thus on 7^th Pous or December 23, 1845, nine boat-loads of Brahmos set out for Goriti Bagan at Palta. Debendranath felt a mere congregation of Brahmos may not be able to attract enough people to come and attend the convention. Hence, he wanted a fair in its truest sense – where people will put up various stalls and there will be buyers and sellers. It took the trust another 32 years before it could organise the first fair at Shantiniketan on December 21, 1895. At Rabindranath Tagore’s behest, the annual Paus Utsav became an event where students and teachers of Santiniketan took an active part.

The festival gets under way with the traditional morning prayer at Chhatimtala, the Visva Bharati University’s sanctum sanctorum. The prayer, interspersed with vedic hymns are spiritual songs, set the mood of the three day festival.

Pous Mela is a platform for baul singers, known and unknown. It brought to focus the plight of baul singers. High-pitched voice and an undernourished, underfed body – this was the typical appearance of most baul singers. The long beard failed to hide their poverty and malnutrition. Their songs may still retain the scent of Bengal, the essence of rural culture their plight is symbolic of the onslaught of global culture. The songs still deal with the mundane matters of daily life. They spread the message of communal harmony.

But it may seem that the fervour is missing. The bauls are no more interested in carrying on their tradition full-time. They are encouraging their siblings to engage themselves in agriculture. The ektara, dotara is definitely there but digital instruments and echo-microphones have made it’s foray into the cultural backwaters, thus, vitiating the purity of form.

Paus Mela, therefore, becomes a meeting ground for urban people and rural folk. Rural artisans bring their wares to the fair while urban relatives set up stalls so that rural people could buy the new industrially produced goods that was revolutionising life in the cities. With the advent of liberal economic policies, multi-national companies are making their presence felt, along with their desi counterparts. The fair ground seems like a makeshift market complex. Motorbikes to mops, everything are on display. In recent times, loudspeakers blares hindi songs much to the chagrin of puritans. But who cares. The urban folks have gone there to search for their roots and the rural folks are more willing to dress up in the way of Shahrukh Khan. A strange dichotomy indeed.

The mela is now more than 100 years old and it still retains it’s charms and excitement. The more people are moving away from the roots, the more they are becoming keen to know the roots. This is evident from the number of city-dwellers present in the fair grounds. Guardians were busy teaching their children the nuances of baul songs and culture. The presence of a large number of foreign tourists with every passing year confirm that this world is truly becoming a global village.

- edited from an article by Subhayu Banerjee