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Bhagwan Swaminarayan established the Swaminarayan faith and renewed the ideals of Hinduism in 18th century India. He established a spiritual way of life and code of conduct to be followed. ‘Satsang’ is the word used by Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s followers to describe the process of associating with God and the guru to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Literally, ‘sat’ and ‘sang’ in Sanskrit mean ‘association with the truth.’ Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s followers are commonly referred to as ‘satsangis’ as they identify with Swaminarayan satsang.

Over 200 years ago, Bhagwan Swaminarayan, who at the time was 14-years-old and known as Nilkanth Varni ,stayed for six months in Jagannathpuri during his 7-year pilgrimage of India. Here, the then Maharaja realized Nilkanth Varni's divinity and honored Him by seating Him on the chariot with Lord Jagannathji during the annual Rath Yatra festival.

After the super cyclone in 1999 in Orissa, following which the BAPS contributed tremendously to the emergency and rehabilitation relief work, Pramukh Swami Maharaj inaugurated a small mandir, installing the murtis of Shri Akshar Purushottam Maharaj. Since then, Satsang has gradually continued to grow and a 6,000 sq. ft. plot of land was acquired on Chakratirth a Road, near the Indradyumna Sea.

There, on Vijya Dashmi, 22 October 2004, the traditional Vedic shilanyas ceremony for a new BAPS mandir was performed by Ghanshyamcharan Swami and Bhagvatpriya Swami in the presence of the Maharaja of Jagannathpuri, Shri Shri Gajapati Maharaja.