The story
Baul Mela Narsingdi in Narsingdi/Baulpara
A week-long Baul devotional mela at a centuries-old akhra on the Meghna riverbank in Kauriapara, Narsingdi, timed to the Magh full moon. Expect continuous devotional singing, a cross-religious 'humanist' gathering of Baul and Vaishnav practitioners, and an overnight riverside camp atmosphere rather than a staged festival.
Roughly seven centuries ago, an unnamed wandering ascetic known only as Baul Thakur is said to have settled on the Meghna riverbank at Kauriapara, near Narsingdi town - his akhra (spiritual dwelling) there now hosts an annual week-long mela timed to Maghi Purnima, the full moon of the Bengali month Magh, which also coincides with the traditional birth-tithi of the 16th-century Vaishnav saint Chaitanya Dev.