A Trip to Gokarna Mahabaleshwar!
An Article by Amit Mohan
The Mahabaleshwar temple located in Gokarna in the Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka is one of the seven Mukti Sthalas of Karnataka. The Mahabaleshwar temple in Gokarna is regarded to be the second after the Vishwanath Shiva Temple in Varanasi and is one of the most sacred places for the people of Karnataka.
Gokarna is a well developed tourist spot due to the fame of the temple and the attached OM beach.
The beach is named so as it forms the shape of OM, the most sacred word in Hindu religion. With number of resorts and lodges present one can face no problems of accommodation and fooding.
I left for Gokarna on my bike. It was around a 280 kms drive from Belgaum but the highway is safe and not crowded except the part after Haliyal from where you can face fierce truck traffic because of the manganese mining. Otherwise the whole route is safe and with no bad roads. The same highway links Bangalore and Hubli to Gokarna. There are plenty of highway restaurants where one can freshen up, have food and take rest.
It was a 6 hours drive to Gokarna from Belgaum. I reached at around 4 in the evening. Out of the number of hotels present, the Hotel Gokarna International which was just at the entrance well suited my needs and pocket. For one day I was charged around 350 bucks for a single room.
After a short halt at the hotel for getting freshen up I left for the temple which was just a kilometer away. I reached their quiet early. The temple visiting time starts at around 5 in the evening. The priests well greeted me as I was one of their customers. The rituals performed are costly. I spent around 500 rupees to do the abhishek of the Shiv ling which was not even visible. It is said that it regains its structure after every 28 years and the last time it was seen was in 1983 when the place was visited by many. Anyways the whole temple had a very pious atmosphere and one can feel the presence of god there so I never repented on spending money to feel the closeness with god.
After performing the rituals and hearing the fables and stories attached with the formation of the temple, which claim that the ling present was actually give to Ravana, the demon god by lord Shiva himself and how lord Ganesha bluffed him while he was carrying the holy "atma ling" to his palace in Lanka, I left for the Om beach which is just next to the temple. A very calm and serine environment where you can see a lot of tourists from outside India dressed like lord Shiva trying to meditate with a Rudraksh Maala in their hands.
I stayed there till late evening and then I left for my hotel. There is a big market surrounding the temple where you can get many remembrances which will keep you updated with your experience of this wonderful place.
On the whole I feel that all the pain I took in reaching the holy Mahabaleshwar was worth taking. The best part in my visit was the glances I had of the foreign tourists dressed as Shiva and holding Shiva's destructive weapon "Trishul" in their hand. They did seem to be freaked out but probably that is the ways one can become a real devotee, by acquiring the simplest characters of the god you are in love with.
Go there to dissolve the chant of "Om Namah Shivay" in your soul if it at all matters to you.
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