Every time you reach the temple, the bhopas (priests)ask you a question- one by one- almost every bhopa -the priests of Godess Sarala "Kouthu aasile"(Where have you come from?) or "Kou gaon?'(Which village are you from?) And the process goes on till you find the bhopa of your own village. Like in Puri, they maintain a ledger where a particular village is under a priest. I know our priest from my child-hood days. As a small child I knew his father but later Murali Nana when he visited our village used to stay over-night in our house and I was made to sleep with him because of shortage of beds. I remember him as a handsome black bare-bodied young man with no pot belly and when he used to perform ghanta-patua in the village wearing the Godess's saree and putting up Godess's Chalanti Protima (symbolic Godess) on his head it was a wonderful site. Today Murali Nana has aged, so have I. His son is taking up his job and my children hardly find time to come from their study centres to visit home or visit this great shrine.But that day I really got frustrated telling so many bhopas the name of my village(Chandura) that the last man I answered was "Murali Nana"I wish the modern day bhopas find a different way to track their clients
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