Gokarna: Pilgrimage site of the tourist

I was eating momos (a Tibetan snack) with a friend one evening and he happened to mention that he was going to Gokarna the next day. Being the only appropriate thing to say, naturally, I said, "Gokarna? What's that?" He went on to explain that it was a little temple town by the sea, close to Mangalore and did I want to come along?
Equipped with nothing more than this little bit of information and the lure of the ocean, I said, "Of course I do!"

About Gokarna:

Gokarna is a little town in North Karnataka. It's more of a pilgrimage than a tourist destination. It is located at the ear-shaped confluence of two rivers Gangavali and Aghanashini, thereby getting it's name Go, which means cow and Karna, which means ear.

How we got there:

As with most places, there are a number of ways to get to Gokarna.

For the fuddy duddies, you could take the direct bus.

For everybody else, you could go the way I did.

Now listen to this, and before I continue, I must disclaim, this route isn't for everybody.

Now I know the destination at the top of this page says Gokarna, but we, our group of about ten, in our collective wisdom decided that Udupi was the way to go.

Udupi is a temple town located in a district by the same name, near the city of Mangalore in Karnataka state. To get there, we didn't make any sort of reservation.

What we did do was land up at the bus stop and in twos and threes, took the last available seats on the half hourly buses that constantly make their way to Udupi and took ourselves to there.

What I'm really trying to say is, get yourself to Udupi - it doesn't matter how.

A useful bit of information to have with you is that Gokarna is only about 10 km off the Konkan Railway route. Another useful thing to know is that the Konkan Railways, of course, has a stop at Udupi.

We reached Udupi in the morning and once there, we checked the train timings which told us that we would have to wait until afternoon to catch the train to Gokarna.

So, if like us you find yourself twiddling your thumbs in Udupi waiting for a train, don't (twiddle your thumbs that is).

Instead, do as we did and get yourself some breakfast and then take a little detour to St.Mary's Island which really isn't good for anything but a swim and some relaxation, which is right up my alley. St. Mary's Island is very close to Udupi.

After some fun in the sun, we caught our train to Gokarna.

By the time we reached, it was night. We got out of the station and found ourselves in a place that was nearly deserted except for a couple of Maruti vans.

We really were in no position to bargain with the driver considering the deserted nature of the area, but we did anyway and finally settled on a price to take us to the beach. We paid all of Rs 500 for the ten of us, which I must admit was a bargain. I should mention though, that this trip took place a few years ago and so prices are bound to have changed!

So, all ten of us stuff ourselves into the little van, backpacks and all, and about half an hour later the van stops. We all tumble out and I seem slightly confused.

It's dark. It honestly looks like we're in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, we bid adieu to our driver and set out. We trek for about ten minutes a downhill trek in the dark with a couple of torches to guide us. Suddenly I stop. I see it there in front of me. This wide expanse under the moonlight. I look at it. I smile. I can't help it. It's the ocean spreading endlessly before me.

It's Gokarna. We're finally there.

About the area:

Gokarna, like I said earlier is a typical South Indian temple town, if I were to tell you about Gokarna beach, I'd say it was a little bit dirty, with plastic bottles and bags around the place as any Indian beach is wont to be, along with your man selling cotton candy and ice cream. Nothing special, surely?

But wait.

Gokarna doesn't consist of just one beach. There are others, which when I visited were as yet untouched by the masses.

The other beaches in Gokarna include Om Beach, Half moon Beach and Paradise Beach each successively harder to access.

Om Beach, like the name suggests is in the shape of an Om symbol. Half Moon beach the same and Paradise Beach, the furthest of all and therefore the most deserted, probably gets it’s name for this reason

Where we stayed:

We arrived, if I remember correctly at Kudle Beach. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Kudle Beach is the feeling of having discovered a secret. A secret place that only an elite few know about.

Our first priority was to find a place to stay.

Now for those of you accustomed to living in the lap of luxury, my advice to you would be, don't go to Gokarna. If it's air conditioning you're looking for, the only air conditioning you're going to get is the sea breeze. As for a soft mattress to sink into and a down pillow and comforter after your hard journey? Well you're going to have to look elsewhere because you're certainly not going to get it at Gokarna. Maybe in the town, but certainly not at the neighbouring beaches. (Unless of course things have changed since I last went there, which is quite possible, though it would be disappointing, to say the least).

In the form of accommodation you have shacks or huts off the beach. These vary in degrees in terms of comfort, but only in degrees. What you're possibly looking at is a hard mud floor, so remember to take a sheet of some sort when you're packing. I can't say what your chances are of getting one over there. If it's bathrooms you're thinking about, your chances are slim. Our hut wasn’t equipped with one, but we did manage to find some make shift showers and toilets however and we made do.

There is of course better accommodation than what we had, don’t let the apparent lack of amenities hold you back.

When we were looking for a place to stay, we checked at a couple of places along the beach just to make sure that we were being charged the right price. The rate of course was extremely comfortable READ cheap. We paid just Rs 40 per hut, which worked out to about Rs 13 per person. Our accommodation, as you may have noticed, only naturally matched the rate we were paying. Like I mentioned earlier, we ended up staying in a number of shacks grouped together and we slept, all of us on hard ground.
 
What we ate:

What we did before we turned in though was get some food into our bellies.

There are any number of places to eat along the beach. All shacks of course but the kind of food you're likely to get there could purely depend on chance.

Let me tell you about this one place we ate at the night we arrived.

We were served by a smiling, foreign young man and our menu consisted of different types of starters and sizzlers of chicken and fish for our main course among other things which really left no room for desert. It was awesome and like everything else there, not in the least bit expensive. Our group of ten as good as had a three course meal for about a Rs.1000.

On the other hand, at another place that we happened to eat at; I'm almost certain that the owner went out to catch our lunch, brought it back and had his wife cook it for us. After lunch I thought to myself that the man must have married his wife for many reasons, but her cooking skills were certainly not one of them!

What we did:

The night we landed, we filled our bellies, took our beers and relocated to the beach. In the darkness we talked about life, religion, astrophysics and what it felt like to finally see the Milkyway in it’s entirety. We talked right until the tide rose and the water began to touch our feet, indicating that it was time for us to go to sleep. The next morning we woke up bright and early. The plan was to visit the other beaches in the area.

There are two ways to get to any of these beaches. You can either trek or go by sea.

We chose the latter. In the insufferable heat we bargained to keep a boat for the whole day. It was agreed that the boat man would take us to all the beaches and finally bring us back to Gokarna beach.

So we spent most of the day getting ourselves from one beautiful beach to the next.

Diving into the ocean off the side of the boat or just relaxing in the sun, with a break in between for lunch. In between all of this making friends with foreigners, mainly European and wondering why it was that we the Indians on Indian land seemed to be the outsiders on this stretch of shore.

The Gokarna beaches (apart of course from the main beach) have a certain quality about them that most other populated Indian beaches don't.

For one, the population consists mainly of foreign nationals. They live there for months at a time, most probably off the money they earn in their native countries which in conversion can keep them going for an extended period of time. Some of the other foreigners even make a living off tourism.

The second thing of note in Gokarna is that the beaches are clean. They appear untouched by man. No plastic bags, empty packets or bottles line the shore and we made it a point to leave the place exactly as we found it when we left.

I only wish more people were like that.

The third and final thing is that if you are a woman, people don't ogle at you which is something of a relief especially if, like me, you enjoy a swim in the ocean.
 
How we got back:

Towards evening we got our things together and made our way back by boat to Gokarna beach. With little time to spare we made our way past the temple, through a granite paved street which led us to town. The entire experience left me feeling like I was in another time. A time before cars. The vendors on the way selling their prayer beads and shell anklets, the people, the cyclists on that road, all in perfect harmony with each other.

We finally got to town, booked our tickets on a direct bus without any problems and soon enough we were on our way back home.

I reached home, and when I did I carried with me a sense, close to something like loss. A feeling of having had something beautiful but not being able to hold on to it.

That's what I remember when I think of Gokarna. A feeling that I can't completely put a finger on.
 
The best advice I've ever heard anyone give anyone about Gokarna was: "Don't plan, just wing it."

Mythology:

There are a number of stories concerning the origins of Gokarna, the one I'm choosing to tell you was told to me by a friend of mine, who in turn was told the story by her mother. The story goes that Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka performed a penance at Mount Kailash, thus entitling him to receive a boon from Shiva. Ravana asked for and received the atmalinga which was a reflection of Shiva himself and would make him all powerful and a menace to the world. Shiva told Ravana that the atmalinga should not be placed on the ground as it would establish itself where placed on earth.

On his way back to Lanka, Ravana stops for his evening prayers at Gokarna. To prevent Ravana from getting a weapon as powerful as the atmalinga, Ganesha, in the disguise of a Brahmin boy, tells Ravana that he will hold the atmalinga until Ravana finishes his prayers. As soon as he receives the atmalinga, Ganesh promptly puts it down. The Atmalinga firmly entrenches itself in the ground. Ravana tries to extricate it but could not and this is how the Gokarna and nearby temples were formed.