The Lord is my witness at Bhubaneswar's Sakshigopal Temple

Isn’t it beautiful when temples come with legends of gods and love? Sakshigopal Temple located in Sakshigopal, on the Puri-Bhubaneshwar highway, is believed to have been built to mark the love of a poor, young man for the daughter of the village headman.

The story goes that the headman opposed marriage, after which, the villagers, including the headman and the young man, went on a pilgrimage to Kashi. The headman fell ill and only had the young man to nurse him back to health. Grateful for his care, the headman consented to marriage but back at the village, he went back on his word and asked the young man to produce a witness to the promise he had made.

Lord Gopal, impressed by the young man's devotion, agreed to be witness on condition that the young man lead the way to the village, without looking back to see if the lord was following. Of course, at one point, when he felt he couldn’t hear footsteps, he looked back and the Lord turned into stone rooted to the spot. Impressed that god had come to bear witness, the villagers married off the couple and appointed as the first priests of the temple, one of the country’s most famous Krishna temples. Sakshi in Sanskrit means witness.

Getting there:
Nearest railway station: Sakhigopal Railway Station, via Sakhigopal temple Rd, about 700 m and
Puri Railway station, via NH 203, about 18 km.
Nearest airport: Biju Patnaik International Airport at Bhubaneshwar, via NH203, about 42 km