Tonsering Hall- Sarala Temple

The Mundan place(Place of tonsering) on the banks of Sarala temple. During our child hood days there used to be no such place and on auspicious occasions like Pana Snkranti when there used to be a lot of devotees who needed tonsering heaps of such tonsered hair used to be seen on the bank of the pond.Now it has a place and there is water supply to the centre and above all it protects children who usually undergo tonering from getting drizzled in sudden rain which is common from end_may onwards.
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Traditional Feet-Washing System- The Ghat

The ghat where devotees usually wash their feet before entering the temple.
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The Pond at Sarala Temple

The pond in the premises of Sarala Temple where the Godess is taken in a boat during summer days. It was a great attraction to visit this boat jouney(Chapa Jatra) as the event fell in May/June when it was summer vacation during school days and when I could use the cycle particularly in high school days.
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Murali Nana and Sama

Murali Nana with my daughter after blessing her and taking her to Godess Sarala in sanctum sanctorium.
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Murali Nana with his son who is taking up his father's profession. On my insistence, Murali Nana was summoned from home, otherwise his son was already there in temple premises when we (self and Sama) arrived on 10th March 2006.
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Murali Nana

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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Sarala Temple, Jhankada

Ever since my childhood, this has been the place we have the highest reverence to. The holy shrine Sarala Temple in Jhankada has been a place we have been taught to visit even when we go home for a couple of days. During school days I remember going to Sarala Temple with a lot of devotion to seek the blessings of Godess Sarala(Godess Saraswati) to excel in studies. As a small child most of the time my mother used to send me with somebody senior who had a cycle and I sat on the front horizontal bar in front of the cyclist. It was no doubt painful but the excitement of visiting Godess Sarala overpowered the pain to back-ground and it was evident only towrds the end of the return journey and it happened so very often on every occasion. The reason was simple. I was fat as a small child and none of my seniors like Ekana Bhai, Sura Bhai, Nira Bhai or Gopa Nana ever wnated to carry my weight on the back seat of their cycles.I also have visited the Godess with my father many times and I still remember that when I was not able to walk in the sun( my father knew no cycling) he lifted me up and put me up on his shoulders and walked the rest of the way in the fields till we reached the main road. I also remeber once walking from the hostel in Srikrishna Academy with my class-mate Narayn Mishra in 1968. It was the year of appearing at the board exam and we both decided to visit Godess Sarala. Started very early in morning without breakfast, went walking and came back walking. Had decided not to talk but only to think and pray Her in mind during the journey.It was a superb feeling. I have never ever experienced so much love and devotion for Godess Sarala and experienced Her blessings in life.
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Munna's younger brother who came all the way from Jagatsinghpur to Burla and both proceeded to Rourkela.

Munna and his brother who visited Rourkela on 18th January 2006 inrelation to a marriage proposal for their elder brother visited us at our residence. Both seen in Niyati's garden.