Gokarna - the town, temples and then some

Gokarna - known because of the Atma linga of Shiva - a repeating legend in India - shaped like a cows ear - is a spiritual center of India.

The main temple - the Mahabaleshwar temple is a pristine old temple  - atleast 1500 years old and is the centre of the town. This temple is unique because it allows devotees to go inside the sanctum sanctorum and touch the linga.

Just around the corner is the Tamara Gauri temple - the consort of Shiva.

The Ganesha temple is next door - and the form of the Ganesha is unique among all the temples I have seen. This temple is supposed to be visited first before you visit Mahabaleshwara...

The Venkataramana temple - has a beautiful moorti - and it is a quiet peaceful temple (was when we went atleast)...

And finally the Bhadrakali temple - which we felt had a distinctly Maharashtrian flavour to it...

And while you are there, dont miss eating at Pai Hotel (not be confused with Pai Restaurant - where we could not go to because we loved the former) for their simple, fresh and delicious food.

Gokarna - beach and trek

Restarting this blog after a long time. Really, more for own recollections of our travels and to recollect and reflect sometime. Perhaps as a memory file.

Gokarna has been on our list for a long time now. Like many destinations, the actual visit never happens. In all the planning, it slips away.

And then suddenly, you get a free weekend, a quick plan and you are off. Thats how we reached Gokarna. KSRTC (my favourite) runs an efficient sleeper bus service and an airconditioned semi sleeper Volvo service.

Everyone knows about the beaches...

The trek between them is worth it. The Kudle to Om is a straightforward one marked with both plastic bottles and painted arrows. The Om to Half Moon is where it becomes a real trek. The trek is through a narrow passage that keeps twisting, turning, going up and down. By and large most paths will take you to half moon and we ended up going one way (a beautiful path alongside a foot wide ledge and a steep drop and the sea on the other) and coming back another way (a more sedate jungle path). The lifeguard did say that one path takes you up the mountain - though we did not locate that. We reached Half Moon after a final 100 metres of walking over rocks - though as I said, we did not know that there was a rockless path.

From half moon to paradise, the path is similar - with a rocky route and a non rocky route. The path twists, meanders - and it goes up and down a bit. Atleast two of the climbs are steep and dont be ashamed to use all fours to go up. The view from the penultimate cliff (Hell Cliff)  is spell binding and then a dip and a climb later, you can see Paradise in all its glory.

Now, apparently there is a beach beyond Paradise - known as Belekan beach - which we did not go to - but we saw a group that had come from there.

The good thing is that very few trekkers take these treks - the bad news is that those who do, seem to litter plastic along the way.

But yes, this is a must do in Gokarna....