In the year 1930,when Bilaspur was barely a small hamlet, there were only a handful of bengali families who had come from Kolkata and settled down in the city to earn their livelihoods, They were mainly lawyers, doctors and businessmen .

Their teenaged children were sent to Kolkata for their schooling and higher education as there was no educational facilities in this small town. However these young children used to visit their parents during vacations and interact with each other.

During one such vacations, Shri Bibhash chandra Mitra, son of Shri Sushil chandra Mitra , a teenager then, decided to utilise their time in creative manner in some literary activities.

He persuaded his friends to write, paint any thing under the sun, edited the collection of such stories, poetries and paintings all by himself and brought out a hand written bengali magazine named “কাল বৈশাখী”

During the same period the youngsters mooted an idea of forming a literary club and decided to name it as ”Milan Mandir”. The year of formation of the club was 1932.

This literary venture among the young generation of Bilaspur continued for a few years but was discontinued subsequently as the members of the club left Bilaspur for various reasons. The prominent members of Milan Mandir, then, included Bibhash chandra Mitra, Suhash ch Mitra, Amar prasad Ray, Kamal Bose, Romen Bose, Mira Mitra and many others.

There was virtually no activities in the club from mid thirties till 1946.

Dr (Captain) Bibhash ch Mitra, who had participated in WW II, got his release from the Army in the year 1946, returned to his home town, Bilaspur, to settle down in the civilian fold of life.

In the forties the only Durga Puja being celebrated in Bilaspur was at the station area. However during the war years (1944-46), a construction firm namely ”Hindustan construction company” which was tasked to carryout certain work in Bilaspur, had some bengali employees. As they were denied leave during Durga Puja, they decided to perform the same in Bilaspur which continued for few years.

Around 1945 46, the company moved out from Bilaspur with its bengali employees. However before their eventual move, a request was made to the local bengali community to continue with this fine tradition of celebrating ”Durga Puja ”

With the initiative of local bengali youths the second ” সর্বজনীন দূর্গা পূজা “ under the banner of Milan Mandir was decided to be performed. The same was celebrated at the premises of Rai Sahib Sushil chandra Mitra s residence in the year 1948. The cultural activities during the celebration was conducted at ”Raghvendra Bhavan”, next to the residence of Sushil ch Mitra.

The prominent bengali personalities who were instrumental in making the event a grand success included Rai Sahib Sushil ch Mitra, Boroda prasad Ray, Dr Bibhash ch Mitra, Photu Bose, Kamal Bose, Makhan Chakravarty, Dr Sachindra mohan Chakravarty, Romen Bose, Hem Chandra Mukherjee  and many others.

An intriguing incident took place during the preparation phase of this puja. A group of sculptors were invited from Kolkata to prepare the idol of Maa Durga. Due to some inexplicable reasons they all disappeared without intimating the people in charge at the final stage of preparation. The final painting and the finishing touches of the idol of Maa Durga was given by the local bengali youth, prominently by Romen Bose and Chitta Dasgupta.

The main funding for Durga puja was done by collection from local residents.

The first Durga Puja in city area was celebrated under the aegis of Milan Mandir with much enthusiasm and gaiety bringing the city based bengali community much closer. The subsequent pujas for the next two/three years were celebrated at Sushil ch Mitras residence till a suitable open land belonging to a Shri ” E Raghvendra Rao” near Arpa River, was found.

Subsequently with sustained efforts by the members of Milan Mandir, a plot of land (7880 sq ft) could be purchased from Shri Chiranji lal. Out of this 3125 sq. ft land was donated by Mr. Chironji Lal Jaiswal in memory of his father late Dr. Sukhlal Jiaswal on 20/12/1951. Remaining land(4755sq.ft) was purchased from Mr. Chironji Lal Jaiswal on 14/03/1956 for ₹4000/. The plot was registered in the name of Milan Mandir.

Thus, Milan Mandir, a bengali institution of Bilaspur became a venue of many cultural, social and religious events. The sustainence and future progression of the club in subsequent years is mainly done through subscriptions and donations.