ABSTRACT
Sarada Devi was born in a poor brahmin family at Jayrambati, a remote wayside village of Bengal. In Sarada Devi’s time cotton was also grown. As far as staple foods were concerned the village was self-sufficient. But the villagers had to purchase other necessary articles, such as cloth, salt, and oil, from neighbouring villages, where they also sold their surplus foodstuffs. Though Bankura was notorious for malaria and for scarcity of food, people of Jayrambati, in last century, were fairly healthy and prosperous. But now many people from abroad make pilgrimages to Jayrambati, in order to visit Sarada Devi’s birthplace, and are greeted by the villagers with cordiality and affection. The birth of a saint or a godly person is often associated with supernatural phenomena, and there are two relevant legends about Sarada Devi’s birth. Sarada Devi’s participated in the religious festivals of the village and listened to the rural dramas depicting scenes from the religious myths of the Hindus.
