Bharat at 03:22, 23 February 2026

2026-02-23T03:22:30Z

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{{Short description|Former political and cultural festival in Kolkata}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2023}}

The '''Hindu Mela''' ({{Translation|Hindu Fair}}) was an annual political and cultural festival ([[mela]]) that took place in [[British Raj|India]] during the late 19th century. Initially established in 1867 by Nabagopal Mitra, [[Rajnarayan Basu]], and [[Manomohan Bose]] as the Chaitra Mela, it was intended to establish unity amongst Indians. It was known for promoting sports, indigenous arts and crafts, nationalistic poetry, and songs. The mela met regularly until 1880, after which it lost its importance due to the establishment of other institutions such as the [[Indian National Congress]].{{sfn|Sen|2010|p=235}}

== History ==
===Founding and objectives===
[[File:Gaganendranath Tagore.png|thumb|[[Ganendranath Tagore]], the first secretary of the Hindu Mela|alt=A black and white picture of a man sitting in a chair dressed in a white robe]]

In 1867, the National Paper published the ''Prospectus of a Society for the Promotion of National Feeling among the Educated Natives of Bengal'' by Rajnarayan Basu. Inspired by this booklet, [[Nabagopal Mitra]] and [[Debendranath Tagore]] collaborated with Basu and Manomohan Bose to found the Hindu mela in 1867.{{sfn|Datta|1988|p=1578}}{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|p=7, 23}} The mela was initially called the ''Chaitra Mela''{{sfn|Gupta|2009|p=52}} because it was celebrated on the last day of [[Chaitra]], the last month of the [[Bengali calendars|Bengali calendar]].{{sfn|Datta|1988|p=1578}}{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|pp=16-17}} The founding of the mela was financially supported by the [[Tagore family]] of [[Jorasanko|Jorashako]], some of whom were involved in organising and promoting the event. Certain members of the family recited poetry and composed songs for the mela.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|pp=7-8}}

The mela was initially led by Nabagopal Mitra as the Assistant Secretary and [[:bn:গণেন্দ্রনাথ_ঠাকুর|Ganendranath Tagore]], Debendranath's first son, as the Secretary. After Ganendranath died at the age of 28, his nephew [[Dwijendranath Tagore]] took over the post of secretary during the third session, helping the mela run for four more years.{{sfn|Datta|1988|p=1578}}{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|p=62}} During these four years, Dwijendranath and Mishra are credited with having established the Hindu Mela as a national event. Due to the annual nature of the event, a National Society was also established during this time to further the mela's goals during the period when the mela was not in session.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|pp=62-63}}

During the second meeting of the Hindu mela in 1878, Mishra and Gaganendranath Tagore had laid out six objectives that the mela would aim to achieve. A primary objective was the creation of a national council that would promote unity and brotherhood amongst Indians.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|p=27}} The council was further tasked with uplifting the status of Indians amongst the colonial population and decreasing Indian's reliance on British services and products.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|p=27}}{{sfn|Gupta|2009|p=21}} To further this, the organisers established the practice of preparing an annual report regarding the council's work that was to be presented every year at the mela.{{sfn|Datta|1988|pp=1578-1579}} Amongst the other objectives laid out during this event was the promotion of indigenous education, arts, crafts, and sports; support was to be provided for anyone who was working towards this goal. To further these objectives, six committees were set up in collaboration with the leaders of the Hindu society.{{sfn|Datta|1988|pp=1578-1579}}{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|pp=28-29}}

=== Later years ===
[[Satyendranath Tagore]], Debendranath's second son, was also deeply associated with the Hindu Mela. He was not present for the founding session in April 1867 as he was in [[western India]], but he was present for the second session.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|p=16}} He composed a song, "''mile sabe Bharat santan, ektan gaho gaan''" (unite, India's children, sing in unison), which was hailed as the first national anthem of India.{{sfn|Bandopadhyay|1966|pp=98–104}}{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|p=105}} [[Rabindranath Tagore]], Satyendranath's youngest sibling, became deeply involved in the mela. At the age of 15, one of his first contributions to the mela was a poem titled "A Gift to the Hindu Mela," which he wrote and recited during its ninth session. The poem was subsequently circulated in the ''[[Amrita Bazar Patrika]]'' and is considered to be one of the first poems that was published under Tagore's name.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|p=11}}

During his association with the Hindu mela, Rabindranath was exposed to anti-British sentiments for the first time.{{sfn|Hogan|Pandit|2003|pp=31}} On the tenth anniversary of the mela, Rabindranath recited a poem titled "''Dillir Durbar''" where he attacked the then newly appointed [[Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton|Viceroy Lord Lytton]]'s decision to hold a lavish [[Delhi Durbar|Durbar in Delhi]]. He was particularly dissatisfied by the durbar's decision to proclaim [[Queen Victoria]] as the "[[Empress of India]]" while famine raged across the country. The poem denounced this action and called for his fellow Indians to "sing a different tune".{{sfn|Renganathan|Bhattacharya|2020|p=13}}{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|pp=57}} This was among his first acts of publicly attacking the [[British Raj]].{{sfn|Hogan|Pandit|2003|pp=30-31}}

Several organisers of the Hindu mela came together to form a secret society, the Sanjivani Sabha, which manufactured ''[[swadeshi]]'' matchsticks and cloth woven in ''swadeshi'' looms.{{sfn|Hogan|Pandit|2003|p=30}} The Hindu mela also provided considerable exposure to indigenous physical sports. In the first session of the mela, renowned wrestlers in Calcutta were invited and awarded medals.{{sfn|Raha|Chattopadhyay|2017|p=126}} In the following session, competitions for indigenous physical sports such as wrestling and [[Lathi khela|''lathi''-play]], a game that revolved around dueling with bamboo sticks, were organised. Various displays of [[Indian martial arts]] and survival techniques were also prominently featured at the mela.{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|2000|pp=27-28}} As a result of this exposure, many schools introduced physical education into their curriculum. Physical education was also included into the syllabus of [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service examinations]].{{sfn|Raha|Chattopadhyay|2017|p=126}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bandopadhyay |first=Hiranmay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRuTYgEACAAJ |title=Thakurbarir katha |publisher=RB.|date=1966 |language=bn}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Renganathan |first1=Mala |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nurwDwAAQBAJ |title=Rabindranath Tagore's Drama in the Perspective of Indian Theatre |last2=Bhattacharya |first2=Arnab |date=2020-08-03 |publisher=Anthem Press |pages=13 |isbn=978-1-78527-395-7 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&pg=RA1-PA1883|title=An Advanced History of Modern India|last=Sen|first=Sailendra Nath|date=2010|publisher=Macmillan India|isbn=9780230328853|language=en}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1578|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti|last=Datta|first=Amaresh|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|year=1988|isbn=9788126011940}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGSuVgPH9T4C&pg=PA105|title=Notions of Nationhood in Bengal: Perspectives on Samaj, C. 1867–1905|last=Gupta|first=Swarupa|date=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004176140|language=en|doi=10.1163/ej.9789004176140.i-414}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyr2gZZnWl8C&pg=PA30|title=Rabindranath Tagore: Universality and Tradition|last1=Hogan|first1=Patrick Colm|last2=Pandit|first2=Lalita|date=2003|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press|isbn=9780838639801|language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Suvendushekhar |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.265531 |title=Hindu Melar Itibritta |publisher= Gautam Sengupta|date=2000|isbn=9789383014224 |language=bn}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SCtEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT99|title=Mapping the Path to Maturity: A Connected History of Bengal and the North-East|last1=Raha|first1=Bipasha|last2=Chattopadhyay|first2=Subhayu|date=2017-12-22|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351034128|language=en|doi=10.4324/9781351034142}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_fptAAAAMAAJ|title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh|last=Islam|first=Sirajul|date=2003|publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh|isbn=9789843205803|pages=85|language=en}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://ochs.org.uk/lectures/facets-hinduism-cultural-nationalist-programme-hindu-mela|title=Facets of Hinduism in the Cultural-Nationalist Programme of the Hindu Mela|date=2012-10-01|website=The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies|language=en|access-date=2019-11-11|archive-date=11 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111133719/https://ochs.org.uk/lectures/facets-hinduism-cultural-nationalist-programme-hindu-mela|url-status=dead}}

[[Category:1867 establishments in India]]
[[Category:1881 disestablishments in India]]
[[Category:19th century in India]]
[[Category:Bengal Renaissance]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindu festivals]]
[[Category:Culture of Bengal]]
[[Category:Culture of West Bengal]]
[[Category:Defunct festivals]]
[[Category:Festivals of Indian culture]]
[[Category:History of Kolkata]]

Hindu Mela - Revision history

Bharat at 03:22, 23 February 2026