'Grontho Mela' was held from late December until early January and was the showcase for books published by Government-run publishing houses. It was being held at the Park Street end of the Maidan, due to a better road and rail network, having moved there from the other end of Maidan in 1991.ĭuring the 1980s and early 1990s, Kolkata played host to two annual book fairs, one by the Kolkata Publishers and Booksellers Guild, and one by the Government of West Bengal − the Grontho Mela ('Grontho' is archaic Bengali word for book). The fair used to be held on the Maidan, Asia's large urban park. The initial apprehension about reduced attendance at the new site has been proven wrong.
Since year 2009, the fair has been held in its new location at Milan Mela near Science City on E.M. This practice causes a lower footfall on the corresponding day in the book fair. Saraswati is the Goddess of Learning, and hence many Hindu households observe the day by worshiping books on that day and not touching books for any other purpose. The fair typically overlaps with the Hindu festival of Saraswati Puja. Even though there is usually an extended holiday in Calcutta during the period of 23 January ( Subhas Chandra Bose's birthday) to 26 January ( Republic Day of India), the fair is held at the beginning of February to overlap with the payday of most Kolkatans. It was to be around a week-long event but popular demand forced authorities to extend the duration. The 44th International Kolkata Book fair 2020 started on 29 January 2020 and ended on 9 February 2020. Even though the country now has several large bookshops like Landmark, Starmark, Crossword Bookstores, and The Oxford Bookstore, in addition to the book shop district of College Street, the tradition persists and Calcutta Book Fair is growing every year. The book fair was started to meet the growing public demand for books, and a relative lack of bookshops.
The book fair was started on a small scale in 1976 by the Kolkata Publishers and Booksellers Guild.
Inappropriate flairs may lead to removal. Appropriate flairs are to be set for all submissions.If a submission which has no title, you should make a self post with an accurate description of the content. An original title (and/or subtitle) is the one given by the content creator. All links (articles, images or infographics) should contain its original title (and/or subtitle).Posts related to the province West Bengal are also welcome but can also be made at /r/westbengal.Posts related to India must be done at /r/india.Use Bengali or English at your discretion. Posts must be related to Kolkata/ Greater Kolkata in general.The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda. Kolkata has been called the "City of Furious, Creative Energy" as well as the "cultural capital of India". Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.