Themed pavilions, stalls add to book fair's charm

Colourful pavilions and stalls, showcasing the country's traditional themes of the respective publication houses, have made the month-long Amar Eksuhey Grantha Mela easy on the eyes.

Publishers are satisfied with the overall arrangements of Bangla Academy, and are hoping for a boom in sales.

A total of 24 pavilions have been allotted to prominent publishing houses, where visitors can browse books standing inside.

Two pavilions of Bangla Academy -- one at its premises and the other at Suhrawardy Udyan, have been made replicating the historic Burdwan House.

“At a first glance, I was astonished thinking how the Burdwan House was shifted to Suhrawardy Udyan from Bangla Academy? Bangla Academy deserves kudos for its creative decoration,” said Rokeya Jahan Kotha, a student of Dhaka University. 

Anya Prakash has built their pavilion modeled after a two-storey building, with a cutout of seminal wordsmith Humayun Ahmed looking over from the first floor balcony.

Mazharul Islam, owner of the publication house, told The Daily Star that Anya Prakash has done it in memory of the writer, as it published over 100 books of him during his lifetime.

Panjeri Publications, popular for their academic books, has decorated its stall with photos and quotes of the prominent poets and writers, including Rabindranath Tagore, Lalon Shah, and Hason Raja.

Stall of Kureghor and Bengal Publications have been built with bamboo sticks maintaining the theme of rural Bangladesh, while the Aninda Prakash stall is built resembling a tin-shed house.

Jagriti Prokashoni built its stall with a poster of late blogger and science writer Avijit Roy, who had published a number of books from the publisher. Avijit was murdered at the entrance of the Suhrawardy Udyan near TSC on February 26, 2015, while leaving the book fair.

A colourful stage has been built with characters of popular TV show and publication Sisimpur including Haloom, Ikri and Tuktuki, at the entrance of the children's corner. The gate is decorated with photos of Gopal Bhar, the jester of Raja Krishnachandra's court in the 18th century.

Stalls of 104 government offices, autonomous and other social organisations on the academy premises are also showing their themes.

Department of Archaeology has decorated its stall with the theme of historic Rose Garden, while the stall of the Bangladesh National Museum shows a photo of its main building.

The stall of Islamic Foundation has been adorned with photos of the holy Quran and national mosque Baitul Mukarram, while the stall of pro-Awami League Centre for Research and Information (CRI) has been decorated with photos of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Imrul Kayes, a student of Jagannath University, said the pavilions and stalls look good. What's even better is that the stalls are reader friendly, he added.

A new logo, designed by architect Enamul Karim Nirjhar, has also added to the fair's aesthetic touch. Two main entrances -- one at TSC and another at Doyel Chattar -- have been built with the fair theme -- “Bijoy: 1952 to 1971, Noboporjay” (Victory: 1952 to 1971, New Phase).

Fair Committee Secretary Jalal Ahmed said, “We are trying to uphold the contributions of Language Movement heroes and freedom fighters by decorating the fair thus way”.

Meanwhile, a total of 141 new books arrived at the fair yesterday.