Hindu Mela was a socio-cultural organisation aimed at reviving the glory of Indian civilisation, mobilise the Hindus, especially the youth, and to cultivate the national language and ideas, so as to fight the cultural colonisation of British. This organisation was mainly supported by several members of the Tagore family, Rajnarayan Basu and Nabagopal Mitra (the editor of the National paper).
In April 1867, on the day of the Chaitra Sankranti (the last day of the Bengali year) the Hindu Mela was established. A formal committee was set up on the first day of the Mela of which Ganendranath Tagore became the first secretary and Nabagopal Mitra the chief organiser. An exhibition was arranged on the occasion with National art-work, handicrafts, cottage industries etc. Among others who took active interest in the Mela were Dwijendranath Tagore, Rajnarayan Basu, Kristodas Pal, Girish Chandra Ghosh, Raja Kamal Krishna Bahadur and others. This was an early attempt to fight British Imperialism and to develop national industries.
The first three annual gatherings was also called Chaitra Mela. A national fair was organised on Chaitra Sankranti. The annual mela was inaugurated amidst the patriotic song of Dwijendranath Tagore- Malina Mukhochandra Ma Bharat Tomari (O mother India, your moon-face is so gloomy...). At the second annual Mela (1868), held at Belgachia and presided by Gnanandranath Tagore, a patriotic song composed by Satyendranath (when he was an ICS) - Gao Bharater Joy was sung . This song was virtually the National Song till Bankim Chandra wrote Bande Mataram to replace it.. The details of the Mela was published in detail in all the news papers and magazines. In its annual gathering of 1875, Rabindranath Tagore recited his own poetry -Hindu Melar Upahar - which was publised in Amrita Bazar Patrika of 25 February 1875. The Hindu Mela gradually lost ground unable to cope with the new and complex demands of the 1880s and 1890s. In the 1890s the Mela gradually faded away. But the spirit of swadeshi that it invoked in the minds of the Bengalis survived, which was subsequently developed during the Swadeshi Movement during the early period of twentieth century.
