Gokarna: Frozen in Time!

Not very long ago, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited Gokarna, an ancient and holy place which is located on the NW coast of Karnataka. I am certain this wasn’t his first visit but such a visit by His Holiness always assumes a state of extreme importance. The place is called as Dakshin Kashi by many who believe in its sanctity. Gurudev thus visited the place which incidentally is home for the Atma Linga, which supposedly was worshipped by Ravana. The holy linga is located at the very ancient Shiva temple in this holy town.

It was in the last week of November that I decided to make a trip to Gokarna. The weather in Goa and in the neighboring coastal districts of Karnataka was perfectly hospitable for this journey.  And my assumption proved right and the weather played a good host on my journey. I boarded KSRTC (Karnataka State Transport) bus from Panaji bus stand in Goa rather early in the morning around 6 AM. An ordinary bus it was, a perfectly no-frills bus! Ordinary seats, no air-conditioning but that was fine since my mind wasn’t conditioned to a higher demand! At least the bus was not crowded, to my relief. But again who on earth, rather in Goa take such an early bus to a city that was not even a holy place! True, this wasn’t headed to Gokarna but a place called Ankola, also a town in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka along the coastal belt. I was to change buses to Gokarna here, Ankola being the transit point.

A few hours into the ride, pleasant sights treating the eye of the beholder all along the road on the way to Ankola, I did not regret my decision to hop on the common man’s mode of transport rather than ride a cab in air-conditioned comfort. It took around three hours to the small town of Ankola where the other bus was standing by to take holy-minded passengers to Gokarna. Honestly I wasn’t one of those holy men going on a pilgrimage to this very ancient and quaint town but had a valid reason.

A river that passed along the bus was called Ganga Valli. A rather picturesque one, flanked by hills and banks that curved along the wide expanse of the river, provided a wonderful view of mother nature’s creations. I looked to see down below, the road and bridge that passed the river was on a higher ground, a pleasant valley of sorts with some cultivated fields and in that stood a single house. How lucky the inhabitants were, I felt.

Just about an hour or so into the journey, we, rather the bus reached Gokarna where I had to get an auto-rickshaw to get to the temple-town. My reason for this journey was to conduct Shraddha for the souls of my departed parents that was not done earlier. It is believed after this is done, the souls may not return to this particular dimension on earth. At least I hoped for it! Time and space that represent two aspects of this dimension was enough experienced by many and one time was enough, I felt. Agree?

Well Gokarna in Sanskrit or Kannada means a 'cow’s ear'. It is believed by the followers of Lord Shiva that He emerged from an ear of a cow at this sacred place. Also Gokarna is located at the ear shaped confluence of two rivers Ganga Valli and Agha Naashini. Here it could be a matter of symbolism that at this ear-shaped confluence and out of mother earth, Lord Shiva emerged. Perhaps that particular act of emergence itself is symbolic. The city of Gokarna itself is an ancient city and is also referred to as Dakshina Kashi according to texts. It is believed that Gaya in Bihar is the most auspicious place to conduct Shraddha for departed souls and the only other city that can match the holiness of Gaya is Gokarna. This city is also reachable from Karwar, which houses a huge base to Indian Navy on the West Coast and is also home to Kaiga Nuclear Plant. To the south lies the city of Mangalore from where transport to Gokarna is available.

Gokarna has two sides to it. One is holy by an ancient order and the other as a tourist destination in these contemporary times. For purposes of the latter there are quite a few hotels that cater to all budgets and quite a number of eateries around which are vegetarian. The reason for that is known. Traversing this ancient town after conducting the rituals, I’ll come to that in a moment, I noticed that this quaint town with ancient buildings has invited many a foreign family as permanent residents. Perhaps these folks came to see the place, fell in love with it, got married there and raised a home. I saw some owning small stores that catered to every visitor. Mostly selling dresses and other stuff, not fashionable but the kind that a rustic traveler would wear! I supported their decision to stay on, for many like me too, would’ve liked that idea!

A bit on the historical perspective of this ancient city before we move on. It is believed that the Kadamba king Mayura Varma ‘imported’ Brahmins from the ancient Ahicchatra, which is in present day Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh and is supposed to have been inhabited from a period before 600 BCE to 1100 CE there. Some of these Brahmins fled from neighbouring Gomantak (Goa) also to escape forcible conversion by the Portuguese and the British during their rule.

Returning to the holy side of it, my purpose was served by a father son duo of Bhats. Ganapathi and his father, an elderly Brahmin priest. No, his name was not Shiva! The rituals took around two hours to be completed in the Ghat area of Koti Thirta tank. They completed the Shraddha to my satisfaction and to the peace of my ancestors, including my parents. They suggested that after completing these rituals for a fee, quite inexpensive at that, I should head out to precincts of Mahabaleshwara Temple, said to be thousands of years old, for lunch served free to the visitors of this town. Unfortunately it was too crowded for my comfort and instead I ate out at a very nice yet simple restaurant near Om Beach, a picture perfect beach by the sea and about fifteen minutes walk from Koti Thirta. There I found out a number of tourist friendly restaurants in the surrounding area. The other temple that houses Lord Ganesha, said to be at least 1500 years old, is very much in the vicinity of this big and impressive Shiva temple.

This temple of Shiva is the seat of the only Atma-Linga in the country which King Ravana is supposed to have worshipped. The sancto-sanctorum is open to public viewing at certain times of the day. The huge temple has some very intricate carvings from ancient times. It also houses a Gaushala (cow shed) within its precincts along with residences for the priests. Very serene atmosphere exists in the entire area, both inside and outside the temple. Certainly a place that beckons one to stay longer or the longest, if possible.

This small town also has two schools that teach Sanskrit to those interested and I believe this has been the practice for many generations. I noticed many a youngster of foreign descent who had taken up the studies of Sanskrit and the Vedas. For me, it was an interesting subject to study various types of people who had decided to embrace this ancient land for good. Religious or not, the tranquility and the old world charm that is totally absent in our urban landscape can positively influence anyone who has a tendency to appreciate the same. Certainly I did like this place a lot.

Swinging back to the urbanites who came here to find some solace from the rat race that crawled on their minds endlessly, OM Beach was one of the others in this area. The others were the Gokarna beach, Kudle, the Half-Moon and the Paradise-Beach. All are beautiful and are typical of the western coast of India such as the ones in Goa. One mustn’t be surprised to see the old Hippie culture still in existence here. Few with guitars and doing nothing in their hammocks are still found here. Since this is termed as holy place, these people seem to respect the sanctity of the area.

Back to the old town, the winding old lanes takes one on a journey to the past, to a place that used to be the bustling old bazaar of a bygone era, that might have been a common sight in many places. It still is here, not much hustle and bustle that particular day but perhaps some other time! The buildings, the shops, the temples, even the people remind you of the past that was the olden days' India. Perhaps it takes you back to a few centuries sans an occasional car or a rickshaw or a two wheeler that blitzes past the tiny roads, momentarily disturbing the serenity. I saw cows and visitors seen walking in a deliberately unhurried walk and I too joined them, for there was time on hand and for many, it definitely stood still on purpose.  Frozen in time stands this small, tranquil and quaint town of Gokarna. A place worth a visit, just to enjoy nature or for religious and/or spiritual reasons; and more so when Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is here on a visit!

© Jagdish Keshav

Oct 2016.