Visitors to Pous Mela — the famous annual fair in Santiniketan — will miss the presence of Bangladesh this year as traders from the troubled neighbouring country had not applied for spots at the fairground before the online booking window closed on Friday afternoon.

The Bangladeshi traders' lack of interest in the fair has been attributed to recent developments on the other side of the border.

"This is very painful for us that no kiosk from Bangladesh will be at Pous Mela. We hope the situation will change soon and we will have stalls from Bangladesh next year," said Atig Ghosh, officiating public relations officer of Visva-Bharati and a senior history teacher at the central university.

A source said three to four stalls had been usually set up by traders from Bangladesh and two each by those from Nepal and Bhutan at Pous Mela in previous years.

Books published in Bangladesh, and saris and other garments manufactured in the neighbouring nation were sold at the stalls.

"This is not only about Bangladesh. There are no bookings from Nepal and Bhutan either. We don't know the reason. But we think it is because of the situation in the neighbouring country. This time, we can't say that Pous Mela is going to be international," said Anil Konar, honorary secretary of the Santiniketan Trust, which is the official organiser of Pous Mela.

Ghosh said: "I used to visit the store at Pous Mela where new books from Bangladesh were available. I will personally miss the stall this year."

Earlier, Bangladesh was absent from the Kolkata International Film Festival and no publisher from the country is likely to participate in the International Book Fair which will start in Calcutta on January 28.

Traditionally, the fair starts on the seventh day of the Pous month of the Bengali calendar, which usually falls on December 22 or 23. This year, the fair will start on December 23 and last for six days.

Pous Mela, which began in 1892 by Rabindranath Tagore's father, Debendranath, gradually turned into a destination for tourists from across the globe. The concept of the fair was to market handicrafts and artworks made by rural people to the urban community.

A source said apart from micro-level artisans, around 1,600 stalls are set up on the Pous Mela ground and traders from states like Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh set up kiosks to sell their items. Over 20 lakh people visit the fair during the six days.

As the Santiniketan Trust has limited human resources and infrastructure, Visva-Bharati staff and officials traditionally organise the fair. This year, Visva-Bharati is organising the fair after a hiatus of five years.

The fair was organised last year by the state government.