Gokarna, Karnataka

Gokarna is a small temple town located in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state in southern India, It has a population of around 20,000. Shiva is the most worshipped deity in the town. Gokarna's main temple, Mahabaleshwara, is dedicated to Shiva. The temple houses what is believed by some to be the earliest Shiva lingam (Atmalinga).

Gokarna is known as one of seven important centers of pilgrimage in Hinduism. It lies on what was once an unspoiled coastline at the estuary of the River Aghanashini. Due to an increase in tourism, the character of the town has changed, and is no longer just a center of pilgrimage, though large numbers of Shiva devotees continue to visit for prayer and worship.

Gokarna is the one of the best beach destinations for tourists in the whole of India. It is very popular for beach trekkers.

Etymology
Gokarna means cow's ear. It is believed that 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.

The Bhagavata Purana relates that 200 years into this current Kali Yuga a pious Brahmin named Atmaveda was unable because of karma incurred in past lives to have any children in his current incarnation. Atmaveda was devastated by not being able to have children, and wandered into a forest to pray for help. There he met a Sannyasi, whom he implored to grant him and his wife the ability to have a child. The Sannyasi warned Atmaveda against opposing his karma, but finally relented and gave Atmaveda a fruit that his wife was to consume to have a child. Atmaveda's wife Dhundhuli did not want to go through the pain of pregnancy and childbirth, so she gave the fruit from the Sannyasi to her cow. A human child was born of the cow, human in all its parts except for its ears, which were cow ears. Because of this the child was named Gokarna.

Gokarna is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana as being the home of the brothers Gokarna and Dhundhakari.

Brahma, feeling proud because he could create the universe, decided to meditate to apologize for his arrogance. He wanted to lift a curse given by Shiva. During his meditation, Shiva appeared unexpectedly, emerging from the ears of a cow. So the place came to be known as Gokarna or ear of the cow. The Puranas state that when Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu created Kerala, it was from Gokarna to Kanyakumari.

As per legend, Ravana was given Atmalinga by Shiva and instructed that it would stay permanently where it is first placed on the land. But 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 the ground, but he removed some pieces of the lingam and threw them in different directions.

Legend
The earliest legend of the city is set in the age of the Treta Yuga, in which Ravana (the rakshasa king of Lanka) reaches Kailasha and performed rigorous penance to obtain the atmalinga from Shiva, as Ravana's mother expressed a keen desire to worship the atmalinga of Shiva. After a long penance, Shiva granted the atmalinga 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.

Vishnu learned that Ravana would become too powerful by worshipping the atmalinga and menace to the world and Ravana's conviction that nobody could defeat him, once he acquired the very power of Shiva. Vishnu devised a plan to install the linga somewhere. The other deities and he urged Ganesha to execute the plan. Ganesha accepted and reached Gokarna as a Brahmin boy.

As Ravana was nearing Gokarna, Vishnu who had known well that Ravana was punctual in performing his periodical rites (Sandyavandhana), hides sun with his Sudarshana Chakra (discus). 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 until he came back after finishing the rites. Ganesha agreed to hold the linga on one condition that he would do so until 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.

When Ravana was performing his rituals, Ganesha called his name three times. Ravana then placed the linga on the ground, but Ganesha disappeared. The linga immediately got firmly stuck in the ground. Ravana realized he had been tricked by the gods and got very upset. He tried hard to pull up the linga, but it didn't move at all. So, in frustration, he threw the coverings of the linga to Dhareshwara and Gunavanteshwara, Murudeshwara, and Shejjeshwar temples. Ravana couldn't lift the Shiva lingam off the ground. So, he named it Mahabala, meaning 'great strength'. From then on, the lingam became known as Mahabaleshwara, signifying its great power.Shiva learned all these from Vayu, the god of wind, and came on to Earth with goddess Parvati 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).

Gokarna was part of the Sodhe and Vijayanagara kingdoms. When the Konkan region — including Goa — was occupied by the Portuguese, it became part of their rule.

Location
Gokarna is about 238 km north of Mangalore, 483 km from Bengaluru and about 59 km from Karwar. It is between the Gangavali and Aghanashini 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 66 (NH-66). 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 10 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.

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.

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.

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, it attracts local tourists on weekends. It has a few shacks and eateries, and also boat service to other beaches.

Beach Trekking and Camping
A five-beach trek includes Paradise Beach, Half Moon Beach, Om Beach, Kudle Beach and Gokarna Beach.

Education
Bhadrakali High School in Melinkeli was founded in 1946. A notable alumni of the school is cancer research scientist, Narayan Sadashiv Hosmane.