Gokarna – Story of Ravana

Gokarna (means Cow’s Ear), a small town on the sea front in the western Karnataka, is a well known destination with holiday-makers and pilgrims. The pristine beaches, attracts travelers from India and abroad alike.

Getting There

Gokarna is situated at approximately 210 kms from the town of Mangalore, and 150 odd kms from Panaji, on the NH 17.
By Road: This is probably one of the best way to get to Gokarna.

From Mangalore the route is Mangalore-Udipi-Kundapur-Murudeshwar-Honnavar-Kumta-Gokarna
From Bangalore, the shortest route would be Bangalore-Shimoga-Jog-Honnavar-Kumta-Gokarna.

Story of Gokarna

Gokarna also has an mythological significance which attracts pilgrims. There are a lot of stories about Gokarna, but the most famous one is the story of Ravana and the Atmalinga.

Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka, received the atmalinga from Shiva after he had performed a penance at Mount Kailash reciting self-written Shivatandavastotram. Shiva instructed Ravana that the sacred atmalinga should not be placed on the ground as it would establish itself where placed on earth. On his way back to Lanka, Ravana stops for his evening prayers at Gokarna.
As Ravana was coming near 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 (Lord Ganesha in disguise) and asked him to hold the Atma linga in his hand till he came back after finishing the rites. Lord Ganesha 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.Lord Ganapathi calls Ravana three times when he was performing his rites and places the linga on the earth and he vanished. The Atma linga at once got firmly entrenched in the earth. Ravana learned that he had been tricked by the Gods.
To prevent Ravana from getting a weapon as powerful as the atmalinga, Ganesha, in the disguise of a Brahmin boy, tells Ravana that he will hold the atmalinga until Ravana finishes his prayers. As soon as he receives the atmalinga, Ganesh promptly puts it down. Ravana tries to extricate it, resulting in throwing the coverings of the Linga to Surathkal, Dhareshwar, Gunavanteshwar, Murudeshwar and Shejjeshwar temples.

As soon as you get down of car/van, you would find a “priest” heading towards you and explaining the kind of puja that are done and also promise you a closer look at the atma-linga shrine. This is a way of earning for them. If you just want to get a glimpse of the linga, just go right ahead into the sanctum sanctorum. If you are accompanied by one of the “priest”, you would be made to go closer to the atma-linga and even touch it. If you are on your own, be prepared for some glares from the “priests”.

Most of the pilgrims that come to the temple, visit the beach thats behind the temple. The approach is narrow at places.

Beaches in Gokarna

Gokarna is famous for the pristine beaches that attracts party-makers and tourists from all over. There are four major beaches in Gokarna.

• Om Beach
• Kudle Beach
• Half moon beach
• Paradise Beach

The Gokarna beach forms the coast of the town while the other four beaches lie to the south of Gokarna. Kudle and Om are around 6 km from Gokarna town along a muddy hill; they are accessible by road rickshaw or foot.  Om beach is named so because it is shaped like the auspicious ॐ [Om] symbol. Two other beaches – Paradise and Half Moon – are smaller and remote beaches.

To get to Om beach, from the main temple road, look out for an arch. The muddy(sometimes cobbled) roads leads up a hill and down to Om beach. The drive to OM beach takes you through you a small hill. Driving through the hilly roads, provide you with a view of the scenic beach down below. Om beach has a resort named after it called the OM beach resort. This is equipped with internet facilities to keep you connected to the external world in this isolated beach. I am told that this place usually runs full and is better to have prior reservation.

Half moon and Paradise are beyond Om beach and are accessible only by foot or boat.
Things to do

One of the things apart from relaxing on the beach is to take a ride on the water scooter. The ride costs anywhere between 250 and 300 rupees depending on the bargaining.

Om beach has lot of small rocks that one can climb on to and enjoy the lashing waves.
You could also take a trek along the long coastline; and its secluded beaches that are dotted with rocky cliffs and hillocks make it ideal for trekkers. You can also hire a boat to reach the more secluded beaches and enjoy a day’s outing by trekking or sunbathing.

If you happen to drive from Gokarna to Mangalore, then stop over at the nearest town of Kumta for food at Kamat. Kumta is also famous for handicrafts and one can find a series of shops on the national highway passing through Kumta.