Maa Sarala Temple, Jhankad

01The poet’s Devi

Sarala Das lived in the 15th century, in the reign of Kapilendra Deva of the Gajapati line, and wrote the Odia Mahabharata, the first great work of the language, along with the Vilanka Ramayana and the Chandi Purana. He says himself that he was an unlettered farmer of Kanakavati Patana, and that the Devi Sarala of Jhankad gave him speech. Students bring their books and pens to the temple before examinations, and writers come to her when they begin a work. The murti is eight-armed, holding a veena among her weapons, so that Saraswati and Durga are seen in one form.

02Festivals at Jhankad

Vasant Panchami and Durga Puja are the great days, and the Pana Sankranti of mid-April brings the Jhamu Yatra, when devotees walk over beds of burning coals in the Devi’s name. The temple is one of the most visited in coastal Odisha; it sits among paddy fields between Cuttack and Paradip. Odisha honours Sarala Das as the Adi Kavi of the Odia language, and the temple is where his memory is kept most warmly.