About Gokarna

  • Gokarna

Gokarna – The Holy Town

Brimming with the rich history and culture Gokarna is the holy town which houses a number of temples and holds a great importance for Hindu religion. It is the holy land with various temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and hence a huge number of pilgrims visit this town to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva. Gokarna has also some of the Lord Shiva’s temple with the original image of the Shiva Lingam. Mahabaleshwar temple, Murudeshwar temple, and Maha Ganpati temple are the must visit temples of the town.

The Legend

If legends could be true, the Mahabaleshwar Temple in Gokarna is the misplaced home to the original Atma Linga of Lord Shiva from its first abode at Mount Kailash in the Himalayas.
The story goes that the demon king of Lanka, Ravana, performed a long penance to please Lord Shiva after the king’s mother had expressed a profound yearning to worship the original Atma Linga of Lord Shiva. Pleased with Ravana’s sincere efforts at penance, Lord Shiva granted his devotee the two wishes he’d made.
  • History

What is the history of the Gokarna Mahabaleshwar Temple?

According to the history of the Gokarna Mahabaleshwar Temple, Mayurasharma of the Kadamba dynasty constructed the temple during the period of 345 – 365 AD. The Vijayanagara Kingdom Emperor Krishnadevaraya visited the shrine and weighed himself in gold here. The great ruler Shivaji often prayed at the shrine.

The famous Kalidasa mentions Lord Mahabaleshwar as Lord of Gokarna in his 4th-century work, Raghuvamsha. The Nayanars praised the deity of the Tulu Nadu, Mahabaleshwar in their work Tevaram between the 6th and 9th centuries.

As per one legend, when Lord Shiva cursed Lord Brahma that nobody will worship him because of his lie about finding the end of the endless beam of light emanating from Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma cursed him back stating that Lord Shiva will go to hell. Devotees believe that after going to the underworld, Lord Shiva appeared through a cow’s ear, a metaphor for emerging out of an ear-shaped place (Mother Earth) known as Gokarna.

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