It’s told that Gokarnam has two faces – silent season and the season from November to April. Om beach will be filled with tourists. Those silent streets and paths will be cheerful with festival mode of the travelers. Gokarnam is situated in Uthara Kannada district of Karnataka. The word ‘Gokarnam’ literally means – ear of cow. According to legends, from Pathala, Siva came to earth through the ears of Mother Earth, who assigned cow avatar. Gokarnam is famous for pilgrimage as well as tourism. The beaches are very famous. Gokarnam has five beaches – Gokarnam beach, Kudle beach, Om beach, Half moon beach and Paradise beach. Ancient Mahabaleswara temple situated in Gokarnam is very famous. Deity is Athma Lingam. Hindus came to Gokarnam to pay homage to their dead relatives too – to do balitharpanam of their most close relatives.

The whole life of Gokarnam revolves around Vinayaka temple and Mahabaleswara temple. When paths lead to the temple, buildings with century old catch our eyes first. Vinayaka temple is just near Mahabaleswara temple. There is a mark in the forehead of Vinayaka’s shrine and it’s believed to be the foot prints of Ravana. People go to Vinayaka temple first, and then to Mahabaleswara. You can find both pilgrims and holy cows in temple premises.

It’s bit surprising that there existed the temple during the period Mahabharata and Ramayana were written and both epics describe about this temple. According to beliefs after killing Ravana, Rama came here and worshipped Siva to get rid of the sin of killing Ravana. Not only that, there is a popular belief that after killing Kauravas and close relatives, Pandavas came here and did worship to get rid of those sins. There is brief mention of Gokarnam in Kalidas written Raghu Vamsam too. So, people come here to get rid of their sins and it’s believed to be more sacred than Kasi because in Gokarnam, there is the presence of Seas and Oceans.

After visiting the temple, people prefer to have an enjoyable journey to Gokarnam beaches too. Just near Gokarnam beach, there is Rama temple. Just near to it, there is a hill and a small stream. The stream flows even during hot summer and water of this sacred stream tastes so sweet too!    

Article Posted By : Sandhya Rani  On July 19, 2013lView All Articles

i would like to visit this place once

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http://www.veethi.com/articles/happy-journey-to-gokarnam-article-2566.htm

Keywords :
Gokarnam , Gokarnam beaches , Mahabaleswara temple