Gokarna,

Karnataka

Gokarna is a small temple town

on the western coast of India in
the Kumta taluk of Uttara
Kannada district of the state of
Karnataka.[1] The main temple
and deity is Lord Shiva, who is
also known as
Mahabaleshwara. This temple
houses what is believed to be
original image of Lord Shiva's
linga (Atmalinga). There are
many other temples all over
this small town. Ankola and
Kumta on NH66 are the main
towns near Gokarna and
Bhatkal and Karwar are the
main cities near Gokarna where
almost all trains stops.
 Gokarna
town

Kotitheertha temple tank in the

centre of the town, Gokarna, India

Gokarna

Location in
Karnataka, India
Show map of Karnataka
Show map of India
Gokarna is known as one of the
seven important Hindu
pilgrimage centers. It is on
what was once an unspoiled
beach near the estuary of the
river Aghanashini. Recently, due
to the influx of tourists, the
character of the town has
changed; it is no longer just a
centre of pilgrimage, though
large numbers of devotees visit
to offer prayers and worship to
Lord Shiva.

Due to its laid-back, unspoiled

and rustic nature many younger
western tourists started visiting
Gokarna about a decade ago.
The beaches around Gokarna
were hardly used by the locals
until these mainly western
tourists started coming.[2]
Enterprising locals started
stores and restaurants, and
now the resorts also cater to
wealthier tourists.

Etymology
Also, Gokarna means cow's ear.
It is believed that Lord Shiva
emerged from the ear of a cow
(Prithvi, the Mother Earth) here.
It is at the ear-shaped
confluence of two rivers
Gangavali and Aghanashini.

View for Kudle beach seen from north

Gokarna is mentioned in the

Shrimad Bhagavata Purana as
being the home of the brothers
Gokarna and Dhundhakari.
In order that Brahma who out of
arrogance arising out of his
power to create the universe,
sat penancing to redeem
himself from curse of Shiva,
Lord Shiva appeared in front of
him from the ears of a cow. So
the place came to be known as
gokarna or ear of the cow.
Hindu mythology says that
when Lord Parashurama, the
sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu
created Kerala, it was from
Gokarna to Kanyakumari.

As per legend, Ravana was

given Atmalinga by Lord Shiva
and instructed that it would
stay permanently where it is
first placed on the land. But
Lord Ganesha came in the form
of a boy and planted it in
Gokarna while Ravana was
performing rituals. Once placed
Ravana could not remove it
from ground, but he removed
some pieces of the Linga and
threw them in different
directions.[3][4]

Legend
The earliest history of the city is
in Tretayuga, Ravana
(Demon/Asura King of Lanka)
reaches Kailasa and performed
rigorous penance to get the
"Atma Linga" from Lord Shiva,
as Ravana's mother expressed
a keen desire to worship the
atmalinga of Lord Shiva.[5][6]
After a long penance, Shiva
gave the Atma linga to Ravana
as a boon and instructs Ravana
to carry it home by walk, that he
should never place it on the
earth even for a short while
failing which the linga would
get eternally embedded at the
place where he broke his
commands.

Lord Maha Vishnu learned that

Ravana will become all
powerful by worshipping the
'Atma Linga' and menace to the
world and Ravana's conviction
that nobody could defeat him,
once he acquired the very
power of Shiva. Maha vishnu
devised a plan to install the
linga somewhere and as he
thought that Lord Ganapati was
alone capable of doing it, he
along with all the gods pleased
Ganapati to execute the plan.
Lord Ganapati accepts and
reaches Gokarna as a Brahmin
boy.

As Ravana was nearing

Gokarna, Maha Vishnu who had
known well that Ravana was
punctual in performing his
periodical rites
(Sandyavandhana), hides sun
with his Sudarshana Chakra
(Wheel). Thinking that it was
time to perform the evening
rites, Ravana finds a Brahmin
boy and asked him to hold the
Atmalinga in his hand till he
came back after finishing the
rites. Ganapati agreed to hold
the linga on one condition that
he would do so till he would be
able to bear the weight of linga
and that thereafter he would
call Ravana three times and if
failed to come to him by then
he would place the linga on the
earth.

Ganapati calls Ravana three

times when he was performing
his rites and places the linga on
the earth and he vanished. The
Atmalinga at once got firmly
entrenched in the earth. Ravana
learned that he had been
tricked by the Gods. The
depressed demon king Ravana
was deeply agitated and tried
to pull up the linga, but the linga
did not budge a little. It resulted
in his throwing the coverings of
the Linga to Dhareshwara,
Gunavanteshwara,
Murudeshwara and
Shejjeshwar temples. Ravana
was unable to lift the linga from
the ground again and called the
Shiva linga as Mahabala, one
with great strength, and ever
since, the linga illustrious as
Mahabaleshwara. Shiva learned
all these from Vayu Deva, the
god of wind, and came on to
Earth with Goddess Parvathi
devi and his train of Gods, he
visited these five places and
worshipped the linga which had
now taken five forms. He
acknowledged that these five
places would be his "Pancha
Kshetras" (Five Holy Places)

A sect of Brahmins fled from

the Gomantak to escape
forcible conversions by the
Portuguese and British and
settled in and around Gokarna
in the 15th century. It was part
of the Sodhe and Vijayanagar
kingdoms. When the Konkan
region — including Goa — was
occupied by the Portuguese, it
became part of their rule. A few
temples were destroyed by the
Portuguese in 1714, rebuilt in
the 18th century, and under the
supervision of Guru H. H.
Shrimad Anandashram Swamiji
in 1928.
Climate
Climate data for Gokarna
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
Average 31.8 31.4 32.3 33.0 29.5 29.8 28.7 28.6
high °C (°F) (89.2) (88.5) (90.1) (91.4) (85.1) (85.6) (83.7) (83.5) (84.4)
Average low 20.1 20.7 23.0 25.4 26.1 24.3 23.8 23.8
°C (°F) (68.2) (69.3) (73.4) (77.7) (79.0) (75.7) (74.8) (74.8) (74.1)
Average
0 0 1 11 184 980 1,227 665
precipitation
(0) (0) (0.0) (0.4) (7.2) (38.6) (48.3) (26.2) (14.4)
mm (inches)
Source: http://en.climate-data.org/location/172162/

Culture
Gokarna is a temple town and a
holiday destination. Gokarna is
full of coconut, banana and
other trees, blue seas and
relatively clean sands. It is a
laid-back town with two main
streets lined with shops and
traditional tile-roofed brick
houses. The beaches near
Gokarna have shacks (huts) for
rent. Kannada is the main
language spoken here; Konkani
and English are spoken, too.

Mahabaleshwara Temple, the main

temple of the town
Gokarna town beach seen from south

Temple Chariot

Religious attractions: Gokarna

is an important centre of
Sanskrit learning and houses
Bhandikeri Math and Toggu
Math. It is a place where
Sanskrit knowledge is passed
down from generations in
Brahmin families. Many Hindus
perform the last rites here.

Mahabaleshwara Temple
(Maha: great, bal: strength) is
a famous Shiva Temple and
it houses the 'Atmalinga'. It
was named after Ravana
referred to the linga's great
strength.[7] It is at the
western end of the main
street. The 'Atmalinga' is
between the Saligrama
Peethaa. The idol of Lord
Mahabaleshwara is called
Nagabharana. It is so named
because of the Lord rests
under the head of Naga
(serpent). The floor of the
hall in front has an intricate
engraving of a giant tortoise.
Maha Ganapathi Temple built
in honour of the boy
Ganapathi, who deceived the
demon Ravana by keeping
Atmalinga on ground before
Ravana returns from
sandhyavandana. The deity
here is two-armed, standing
and at least 1500 years old.
Uma Maheshwara Temple -
Another Shiva Temple in
Gokarna, this time housing
the Lord with Goddess
Parvati.
Bhadrakali Temple
Tamra Gauri Temple
Venkataramana Temple - The
only Vishnu temple in
Gokarna.
Kotitheertha is a man-made
tank that is used for
immersion of idols and ritual
bathing. It is surrounded by
temples.
Shivaratri festival is
celebrated with great
enthusiasm. The temple has
two chariots — named locally
as 'Dodda Ratha' (Dodda for
big in Kannada) and 'Sanna
Ratha' (Sanna for small in
Kannada). While Sanna Ratha
is out in the open during
winter and summer, the
Dodda Ratha is brought out
and made ready only during
Maha Shivaratri. On the last
day of the Shivaratri festival
the Lord Mahabaleshwara
idol is carried in Dodda Ratha
in a procession through the
town's big Car Street, while
priests and pilgrims chant
hymns in praise of Shiva.
More than 100 people are
needed to pull the chariots
with thick ropes while priests
conduct religious ceremonies
inside. During the nine-day
festival, the small town of
Gokarna is visited by up to
20,000 pilgrims.
Kudle beach has a little
temple belonging to Lord
Hanuman and it is believed
 that the temple is his birth
place. This temple is located
on the left side of the stairs
leading to the beach.

Community festivals:

Mahashivaratri
Kartika Mahotsava
Suggi Habba is the main
cultural festival of halakki
vakkaligas

Beaches
The drive up the winding path
that leads to Gokarna is scenic,
with the rocky mountains and
Western Ghats on one side and
the Arabian Sea on the other.
Gokarna is known for the
beaches. The Gokarna main
beach is in town and Kudle
beach are west facing. Om
beach, Half moon Beach,
Paradise Beach (also known as
Full moon) and Belekan beach
are south facing.[8]

The Gokarna beach forms the

coast of the town and is
followed by Main beach in
northern direction while the
other four beaches lie to the
south. Gokarna Main Beach is
mainly used by Indian pilgrims.
Main Beach is a long open
beach, known for surfing. Kudle
and Om are around 6 km from
Gokarna town along a muddy
hill; they are accessible by
rickshaw or foot. Half moon
and Paradise are beyond Om
beach and are accessible only
by trekking or boat. Om beach
is named so because it is
shaped like the auspicious ॐ
Om symbol. Om beach is a
naturally Om-shaped beach,[9] it
attracts local tourists on
weekends. It has a few shacks
and eateries, and also boat
service to other beaches.

Location

Boating services seen in Om beach, 5km

from Gokarna

A tourist sun bathing in Om beach

Gokarna is about 238 km north
of Mangalore, 483 km from
Bengaluru and about 59 km
from Karwar. It is between the
Gangavali and Agnashini rivers
along the Karwar coast by the
Arabian Sea. It is 200 km north
from the college towns of
Suratkal and Manipal.

Gokarna can be reached by

buses and maxicabs from
Kumta (30 km), Ankola (26 km),
Karwar (59 km) and
Bhatkal(88 km) on National
Highway 17 (NH-17). Karnataka
State Road Transport
Corporation (KSRTC) runs long-
journey buses from cities like
Panaji, Bengaluru and
Mangalore. Private buses
(Vijayanand Roadlines - VRL,
Sugama, Sea Bird, etc.) operate
night journeys from the capital
city of Bengaluru to Gokarna
daily.

It can be reached by Konkan

Railway on the Mumbai to
Mangalore route or Goa to
Mangalore route. The railway
station (called Gokarna Road)
is 6 km from the town. The
station has a retiring room at a
nominal price. Many important
trains like Matsyagandha
Express, KSR Bengaluru Karwar
Express, Poorna Express,
Marusagar Express and
Mangalore Local and DEMU
local are the Daily Local Trains
halt here.[10]

The nearest airports are Hubli

Airport, Karnataka which has
domestic flights only, Goa
International Airport at Goa and
Mangalore International Airport
at Bajpe, Karnataka are the
nearest airports to reach at
Gokarna.

Neighbouring villages are

Bankikodla-Hanehalli,
Sanikatta, Tadadi, Torke,
Madangere, Maskeri, Adigone,
Nelaguni and Bijjur.

See also
Bhookailasa (1940 film)
Murudeshwara
Karwar
 Mangalore

References
1. Maps, Weather, and Airports
for Gokarna, India
2. Planet, Lonely. "Gokarna -
Lonely Planet" . Lonely Planet.
Retrieved 2016-10-26.
3. "Yahoo" . Yahoo. Retrieved
2016-10-26.
4. WPBlogger, Truper &. "The
Curse of Gokarna: The
history of an Indian village »
Old World Wandering: A
Travelogue" . Retrieved
2016-10-26.
5. "Gokarna - Story of Ravana -
Ghumakkar - Inspiring travel
experiences" . Ghumakkar -
Inspiring travel experiences.
2012-04-25. Retrieved
2016-10-26.
6. "Gokarna Mahabaleshwara
Temple, Gokarna Beach,
Gokarna Siddi Kshetra,
Gokarna Lord Shiva's
Atmalinga, Gokarna Travel
Destination" .
www.karnatakavision.com.
Retrieved 2016-10-26.
7. "Mahabaleshwar Temple" .
 8. Lonely Planet (21 January
2016). "Beaches" . Lonely
Planet. Retrieved 21 January
2016.
9. "Beaches" .
10. Planet, Lonely. "Gokarna -
Lonely Planet" . Lonely Planet.
Retrieved 2016-10-26.
Source: Karnataka State
Gazetteer 1983

External links
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Gokarna.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide
for Gokarna.

Beautiful Gokarna Images

The Curse of Gokarna : The
history, present and uncertain
future of an Indian village
Gokarna Spiritual guide
Gokarn Math
Roots of Havyaka Brahmins
Great Guru of Gokarna
Official Website of Gokarna
Temple (in Kannada)
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org
/w/index.php?title=Gokarna,_Karnata
ka&oldid=883220548"

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