Khirchor Gopinath - खीरचोर गोपीनाथ

Khirchor Gopinath Temple is in Remuna, Balasore district of Odisha. The name Remuna is derived from the word Ramniya (which) which means very good looking, Vaishnab Dham. The reference is to Bal Krishna's love for milk and milk products.

The mythological story behind Khirchor Gopinath
It is believed that 500 years ago, Madhavendra Puri was going to Puri to get some sandalwood for his Sri Gopal Devta in Vrindavan. In a few days he reached Remuna where Gopinath is located. Madhavendra Puri was overwhelmed seeing the beauty of the deity.

In the corridor of the temple, from where people usually saw the deity, Madhavendra Puri danced and then he sat there and asked a Brahmin what kind of food items he offered to the deity. Madhavendra Puri thought: \"I will ask the priest what foods are given to Gopinath so that by making arrangements in our kitchen, we can give similar food items to Shri Gopal.\"

When the Brahmin priest was questioned in this matter, he elaborated on the types of food to be offered to the deity of Gopinath. The Brahmin priest said: “In the evening the gods offer sweet rice in twelve earthen pots. Because the taste is as good as nectar, its name is Amrit Kelly (milk nectar). This sweet rice is celebrated all over the world as Gopinath-Kheer. It is not offered anywhere else in the world. \"

When Madhavendra Puri was speaking with a Brahmin priest, sweet rice was placed before the deity in the form of prasadam. Seeing this Madhavendra Puri thought \"If, without my asking, a little sweet rice is offered to me, I can taste it and make similar preparations to offer it to my Bhagwan Gopal.\"Then immediately Madhavendra Puri realized his mistake in wanting to taste sweet rice, and he immediately repented, \"I have committed a crime. I wanted to taste the preparation before offering it to God. Thinking so heavily, he went to the nearby Ramchandi temple and started singing bhajans in praise of Bhagwan Gopinath.

It is a daily ritual in the temple that every day twelve offerings are offered to the Bhoga Prabhu. On the same day when those twelve pots were offered to the god, the priest was surprised in his utterance that a pot of milk indulgence was missing. The priests searched for the missing vessel, as it was considered a bad omen when the Bhagwan's offerings were stolen.

After finishing the worship of Gopinath, the priest rested. That same night, Bhagwan Gopinath appeared in the dream of the head priest of the temple and uncovered the mystery behind the mystery of the stolen milk pot. He said that it was none other than that he had stolen and hid it inside the cloth. He further instructed the priest to immediately offer a pot of indulgence to his favorite devotee, Sri Madhavendra Puri. The priest woke up once and went to the main hall where the idols were and his surprise found a vessel of enjoyment. He took it and immediately offered it to Sri Madhavendrapuri, who was sleeping quietly under a tree in front of the Ramchandi temple. The priest said to him, \"Mr. Gopinath has stolen the Khir for you.\" There is no other fortunate like you. In this way the deity got the name \"Khirchor Gopinath\".

The incident spread rapidly, stealing is a crime, but the Bhagwan himself committed this crime for the love of his disciple. This is a rare example of the Bhagwan serving his devotee. This temple is a symbol of the Bhagwan's boundless love and genuine love for his ardent believer. Madhavendra Puri established an ashram at Remuna and stayed there for some time. Madhavendra Puri is worshiped in this ashram.

When Bhagwan Caitanya and his guru Ishwarpuri came here, flowers fell on their heads from the body of the deity. Sri Chaitanya then danced in extreme bliss. You can also find the footprint of Sri Chaitanya here.