Gokarna and Murdeshwar 2022

Gokarna – a well-known name amongst two unlikely groups of people – the religious minded and the frequent travellers. Till about two decades ago, Gokarna was a very pious destination for devout Hindus referred to as Dakshin Kashi (Kashi of the South), but today it is modern beach destination – popular amongst young Indians and foreigners alike.

Gokarna (literally means cow’s ear) lies between two rivers -Gangavali and Agnashini . It is on the Arabian sea about 100 kms south of Goa. As one would expect, it has spectacular beaches and numerous restaurants with beach facing view.

In addition to Gokarna, I decided to add Murdeshwar to my itinerary. It’s a small town famous for its 120 feet Shiva idol and temple with towering gopura.

The benefit of moving to Bangalore from Mysore is that there is excellent connectivity to various tourist destinations. Since I prefer taking trains instead of driving, an overnight train suits me perfectly . It’s convenient and saves a great deal of time.

We boarded the Bangalore -Karwar Panchaganga express at 06:40 PM on 23-Mar-22 from Bangalore railway station. This train is suitable for those wanting to visit south Goa as Karwar is just 15 kms from Goa border. The crowds at the railway station were similar to the pre-covid days which was heartening, a sign things are now back to normal. 

Next morning, we woke up to the beautiful scenery of Western Ghats. The train was speeding through dense forests and crossing mighty rivers and it was sight to behold ! At around 7:30 AM we alighted at the quaint little station of Gokarna Road.

A 10 kms journey in an autorikshaw brought us to our resort – Namaste Samudra, right on the Gokarna beach. I always prefer resorts on the beach as it makes access to the sea very convenient.

After breakfast , we went to the sea and had a refreshing dip. Surprisingly, it was neither too hot nor sunny and we were able to walk on the beach quite easily.

Like in Goa, we can hire two wheelers for short term in Gokarna . We hired an Activa for INR 400 per day and set out to the famous temple of Gokarna – Mahabaleshwar temple. The legend of the temple is as follows.

As per legend, Ravana was given Atmalinga by Lord Shiva and instructed that it would stay permanently where it is first placed on land. But Ganesha came in the form of a boy and planted it in Gokarna while Ravana was performing rituals. Once placed, Ravana could not remove it from the ground- and hence he gave the name “ Mahabaleshwar” to the Atmalinga.

The temple is just adjacent to the beach and was surprisingly crowded for a Thursday . One reason is because the temple is one of the seven sacred Muktikshetras (“places of salvation”) in Karnataka. It is a place where many Hindus perform obsequies (death rites) for their departed. We sought the blessings of the Lord Shiva (the main deity) and visited other adjacent temples of Goddess Parvati and Maha Ganapathi . These temples are not very architecturally grand and the visiting these temples did not take long time.

We was however unimpressed with the aggressive way in which vendors and priests sought money from devotees. A simple teerth by random priests in temple corridor was followed by demand for money. One understands that temples like other institutions require money for upkeep and the priests need make a living. But the monetary aspect needs to be made more systematic with proper receipts and queue system.

 Post the visit, we went for a walk around the “Car street” – where the procession of the temple chariot takes place during religious festivals. I was surprised to see numerous Marathi nameplates like Joglekar , Mule, Sane etc- perhaps some little known history of migration ! There are number of vegetarian restaurants on this road and we preferred the Pai Hotel for next two days for our lunch.

That evening, we went for a long walk on the main Gokarna beach. The best part of long beach is that one can walk in solitude for long stretches which is quite an enjoyable experience.

Next morning , 25-Mar-22 we had no particular plan and spent the morning taking a dip in the sea water. For lunch we decided to visit the famous Mantra café, few minutes ride from the main temple. Mantra café is adjacent to Zostel – a backpacker hostel in Gokarna. Perched on the cliff overlooking Gokarna Main Beach, it provides a wonderful view of the Arabian sea. It appeared to be a popular destination for young travellers and I was by far the oldest diner there!

View from the Mantra Café is seen in following video

That evening we decided to visit the famous Kudle beach – which is extremely popular amongst the trekkers, water sport enthusiasts , yoga learners and night campers. This beach is smaller than the main Gokarna beach but has livelier atmosphere. After spending some time here, we went back to the main beach to view the sunset.

The link to the video of the sunset is given below

The final dinner at Gokarna was a memorable one. At the Ill Mio beach facing restaurant, we had a good time amongst colourful lights and watching the waves crash on the beach.

Next morning , 26-Mar-22 we had leave Gokarna and proceed to Murdeshwar – a distance of about 80 kms. We hired a taxi and started at 10:15 AM on the National Highway 66, made famous by film Dil Chahta Hai . It is indeed a picturesque drive through lush greenery and imposing mountains in foreground .

Just before Kumta, we stopped at the Mirajan fort , one of the lesser known attractions in the area. It’s an ancient fort with most of its parts in ruins.

The link to the video of the Mirjan fort in given below

Around 12:30 PM, we arrived at town of Murdeshwar and the influence of R N Shetty was immediately evident. Late R N Shetty was an entrepreneur and philanthropist from Murdeshwar, who executed number of important construction project like highways, hydel power projects and five star hotels during his lifetime.

RNS modernized the temple town of Murudeshwara and transformed it into a tourist attraction. The building of temple Rajgopura (tallest in the world) and the statute of Lord Shiva were funded by RNS.

Around 5 PM we entered the temple and were impressed by the maintenance and professional management. The main deity is Lord Shiva and there are numerous small temples surrounding it. This temple is located just adjacent to the Arabian sea and provides wonderful vista of the beach.

The main attraction of Murdeshwar, the giant statue of Shiva is in the same temple complex. It is the second tallest statue of Shiva in the world , only after the Kailashnath Mahadev statue in Nepal. One can get very close to this statue and admire the artistic finesse of the sculptor. Right behind it is the sunset point from where we viewed the sun set into the sea.

The link to video of the temple is given here

As the suns set, the lights at the Gopura and the Shiva idol were lit up creating a mesmerizing view. Its highly recommended that those visiting Murdeshwar spend an evening here and view the lighting.

We ended our day with dinner at Kamat Yatrinivas . True to its brand, the service was efficient and food pretty good.

Next day 27-Mar-22 was our last day in Murdeshwar. Waking up before 06:30 AM I went to temple to avoid the weekend rush. The premises was deserted and I could see all the shrines and views at leisurely pace. I was intrigued to see an entrance to the Bhukailasa caves and I went in. There are wonderful statuettes and life size images depicting various stories from Puranas. The legend of Gokarna is a special attraction here.

There is a lift near the entrance to the temple that takes one to the highest floor of the gopura. When we reached the top, we were slightly disappointed to see that the view was restricted from windows. It was not a panoramic view which I was expecting, however I did capture some interesting videos through the windows

The link to video is given here

There are numerous water sports available at the Murdeshwar beach and I mustered my courage to take a speed boat ride. It’s a high adrenaline rush activity and I held on to the seat while boat twisted and turned wildly in choppy sea. I was glad when the speedboat reached the shore!

As we made our way to railway station to catch train back home, I was reflecting on the number of lives that R N Shetty had touched through is philanthropy, especially in field of education. And his contribution to building of what is truly “temples of modern India”