Poet Sukanta Fair begins in Gopalganj

A five-day Kabi Sukanta Mela will begin today on the premises of the ancestral homestead of poet Sukanta Bhattacharya at Unasia village under Kotalipara upazila of Gopalganj district, marking the birth anniversary of the poet.

The Ministry of Culture and Gopalganj district administration is going to jointly organise the fair. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kazi Mahbubul Alam will inaugurate the fair as the chief guest.

The fair was not organised in the last three years due to the pandemic.

In the fair, recitation, writing and painting competitions have been organised with the participation of students from various educational institutions of the upazila and a will also be held a cultural program with the participation of prominent artists of the country.

On the occasion of the Mela, the house of the poet and its surrounding areas are decorated in a new form around this fair. Upazila administration and law enforcement forces are monitoring Kabir's house around the clock.

Kotalipara Upazila Chairman Bimal Krishna Bishwas said that the atmosphere of the festival is spreading throughout the upazila around this fair. Various social and cultural persons of the upazila organized the fair with full cooperation.

General Secretary of Upazila Awami League Ayanal Hossain Sheikh urged the government to take appropriate measures to preserve it as a tourist centre and built a modern library at the poet's ancestral home for the next generation.

Ashok Karmakar, General Secretary of Poet Sukanta Smriti Sangsad, said that we have been holding a fair at the poet's ancestral home for 10 years on the occasion of the poet's birth anniversary. The poet was born in the month of August. As August is the month of mourning, so we organize the fair every year in the first week of March.