MELA GROUNDS: INFLUENCE ON

SOCIETY
BY HASSAN JASEEM KM, SEM-I M.ARCH RECREATIONAL ARCHITECTURE, JMI

Concepts & Paradigms

Assignment: How mela grounds have influenced the society with time? Explain it with
traditional paradigm

Mela Grounds

Mela is the Sanskrit term for traditional and seasonal fairs and festivals hosted on open
grounds where large number of people gathers around. It can be theme-based,
promoting a particular culture, art or skill. Generally in "melas" people can find eateries,
entertainment activities, shops and games.

Mela grounds are spaces for seasonal occupation, creating a pike in cultural, social and
economic activity over a period of time when fairs and festivities are held. India is
famous for its kind of festivals and fairs, most of the fair held in India are either religious
fairs or celebration of change of seasons. A number of big fairs are held at important
places of pilgrimage, Khumbh Mela the largest gathering in the world held at three holy
cities of India.

Kolkata Book Fair is the world’s third largest annual conglomeration of books and
world’s largest non-trade book fair. The famous Sonepur Cattle Fair near Patna is the
biggest cattle fair in Asia and world’s largest animal fair. India is a land of fairs and
festivals, every month there is festival with fair held at different regions of India, Some
of the big religious fairs in India are Pushkar Fair, Baneshwar Fair Gangasagar Fair,
Tarnetar Mela, Chaitre Chaudash mela, Nagaur fair, and many monsoon festivals or
fairs.

With the richness and cultural heritage the emergence of mela ground has significantly
increased catering the masses on large scale. Certain traditional festivals celebrated in
mela grounds are:

Khumbh Mela: Kumbh Mela is a very big fair and the largest gathering of Hindu
pilgrims, celebrated every twelve years at four holy places Prayag (Allahabad),
Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. The grand event held by rotation, on the banks of the
sacred river Godavari, Yamuna and The Ganges. During this big fair Hindus pilgrims
gather at the sacred Ganges River for holy bath. The major attractions of this biggest
religious fair are the procession of Naga Sadhu “Holy Men of India” and procession of
Akharas marching. Sonepur Mela: The Sonepur Cattle Fair held (November) on full
moon day in Bihar, on the confluence of river Ganges and Gandak. Sonepur fair is also
known as the Harihar Chhetra Mela,The Sonepur Fair is the only one of its kind in the
world. Haathi Bazaar is one of the major attractions of the fairs, where elephants are
lined up for sale, Apart from this all breeds of buffaloes, donkeys, ponies and birds are
also available for sale. The largest animal fair in Indian attracts peoples from all around
the Asia.

Hemis Gompa Fair: The Hemis Gompa festival is a religious fair and one of the most
auspicious Occasions for the of Buddhist community in India. The grand fair held in the
month of January/February at the world’s famous Hemis Gompa “the biggest Buddhist
monastery” located in Ladakh. The famous Hemis Gompa is surrounded by mountain
rocks and concealed inside the Hemis National Park

Kolayat Fair: Kolayat Fair also known as Kapil Muni Fair is another large cattle fair held
(September-October) in Bikaner district of the Royal state Rajasthan. The major
attraction of the fair is when thousands of devotees take a sacred dip and put several lit
oil lamps to float in the calm waters of the Kolayat Lake. The Royal state of India also
host Desert Festival of Jaisalmer, Nagaur fair and the most famous camel Festival in
Bikaner.

Chandrabhaga Mela: Chandrabhaga Mela is also known as Magha Saptam Mela, A

grand fair is held (February) at Khandagiri near Bhubaneswar Orissa. The important
fair and festival is celebrated every year during the full moon phase at the sacred
Chandrabhaga River. During the seven day fair thousands of pilgrims gather to bathe in
the holy Chandrabhaga River. The famous Konark Sun Temple, Math and Archaeological
Museum are the best sightseeing of the tribal state.

Ambubasi Fair: The Ambubasi Fair is one of the numerous religious fairs and festivals
celebrated across India. The three-day traditional fair is organized every year during
monsoon in the Kamakhya temple at Guwahati, Assam. Tens of thousands of devotees
from different parts of the country thronged the Kamakhya Temple for the three-day
traditional fair.

Tourism and society benefits:

India is always known for its heritage and culture for ages. Tourists from all over the
world visit India to explore these ancient arts and crafts and gets fascinated. This
unique feature of Indian tourism gives opportunity for tourists to even experience the
making of such magnificent pieces of paintings, metal arts, handicrafts, weavings etc.

The Indian tourism industry, with the contribution of arts and crafts through various
fairs and festivals has become one of the most rapid growing sectors all over the world.
Traditional crafts offer significant economic contributions to a region's economy, in
particular through the revenue generated from small craft retail businesses. Because
craft retailers operate within the small business sector, they are subject to high failure
rates due to the challenges of operating in a highly competitive business environment.
Tourism is also looked at as a creative industry with a vast potential for improvement
and growth. It flourishes best where it provides variety and ethnicity.

However, Dilli Haat, the Surajkund Crafts Mela and many other such ventures have
shown that the reverse is the reality. Tourism earnings have come to rely more and
more on the handicrafts-craftsman component. In the 21st century, Tourism is expected
to grow as foremost source of economic development and a major catalyst for
employment generation.

With the discovery of more and more tourist destinations, it has become a huge source
of income for the developing countries. Tourism over the years is experiencing more
growth and diversification for the development and socio-economic growth.

Some of the important Indian fairs and festivals are the Pushkar fair in Rajasthan, the
Crafts Mela a Surajkund, Holi and Diwali in North India, Pongal in Tamilnadu, Onam in
Kerala, Baisakhi in Punjab, Bihu in Assam, dance festivals at Konark, Khajuraho and
Mamallapuram. Tourism in India can be a gastronomic delight as well, with regional
culinary expertise and variety in different regions of our country. As the fastest growing
sector in the tourism industry, there are several attractive investment propositions.

Estimates of its relative significance in terms of global tourism expenditure vary

considerably. Real GDP growth for the Travel & Tourism Economy was estimated to be
0.2% in 2011 and to average 7.7% per annum over the coming 10 years. In recent past
festivals are a being organised in a professional manner for promoting tourism. It helps
immensely in boosting the economy.

This limited time-period events encourage visitors to visit the place, get unique
opportunity to interact with the local community, gaining a first-hand deeper
experience of the ambience, customs and local culture. Cultural tourism is developing as
one of the important branches of tourism and being promoted all over the world. The
World Tourism Organization suggests that more than 40% of all international tourists
are ―cultural tourists. The Travel Industry Association of America has estimated that
two-thirds of U.S. adults visit a cultural or heritage site or attraction when they travel
(Silberberg, 1995).

Based on this data, it has been argued that cultural tourists represent a new type of
mass tourist who seeks meaningful and interesting travel experiences. The festivals,
traditions, culture attracts tourist to visit the place. Events such as fairs and festivals not
only serve to attract tourists but also help to develop or maintain a community or
regional identity.

The arts and crafts of a society or region are a form of non-verbal communication,
where the artist communicates his feelings and beliefs through his representation of the
art. However, in folkarts the existing social fabric has a huge influence on the
representation. Also, the relative importance of the different elements and symbols, and
its representation undergoes a change with time and region. Extensive research has
been carried out to study arts and crafts of India based on the region they belong to.