Gokarna is a temple town located at a distance of 60 km from Karwar in
Uttara Kannada district. Gokarna is a Hindu pilgrimage centre as well as an
important tourist destination. The temple here is dedicated to Lord
Mahabaleshwar, an incarnation of Lord Shiva.
Gokarna is situated on the banks of Arabian Sea, and this coastline is
surrounded by natural beauty with five beaches and hills along side, the
traveler can choose his favorite for himself.
The meaning of Gokarna is "Cow's Ear". This sacred place is
located between the Gangavali and Agnashini river mouth and it is named for the
ear-shaped meeting of two rivers. It is also believed that Gokarna gets its
name from the legend in which Lord Shiva emerged from the ear of a cow.
The Mahabaleshwar temple at Gokarna is respected as a Shaiva pilgrimage
centre than a tourist destination and as important as Kashi and Rameshwara
pilgrimage centers for Hindus. Gokarna is also respected as "siddi
kshetra" and "Mukti Stala" of Karnataka.
A car festival is held here on this most auspicious day when a huge
number of devotees visits here to participate in the festival of Lord Mahabaleshwar.
Legend
According to the legend, the Atmalinga brought by Ravana got struck here
and his efforts to extract it resulted in his throwing the coverings of the
Atma Linga to Dhareshwar, Gunavanteshwara, Murdeshwar and Shejjeshwar temples.
Ravana was unable to extract the Atma Linga from the ground again and finally
he called the shiva linga as Mahabala (you are too strong). The Atma Linga of
Lord Shiva is popularly known as Mahabaleshwar.
The Mahabaleshwar temple is the main attraction at Gokarna. The deity here is two-armed, standing, and at least 1500 years' old. The temple enshrines Mahabaleshwar, in a square Saligrama Peetha. A small hole in its middle permits devotees to have a glimpse of the top of the Atma Linga.