Gokarnam is considered as the northern tip of the land which Parasurama had taken back from the sea with a mighty fling of his axe. Mahabaleshwar derives its name from Lord Mahabali (Lord Shiva), who is enshrined in the form of a naturally manifesting(swayamboo) lingam in the shape of a Rudraksha seed. This lingam is considered more sacred than the 12 Jyothirlingams. It is also called 'Trigunatmaka'(which posseses three qualities) as it is believed to represent trinities.
Gokarnam Mahabaleshwar Temple, located in the Karwar district of Karnataka, is one of the 275 Shaiva Tirupathies(Shiva shrines) glorified by the Tamil hymns of the Nayanmars around 1300 years ago, one of the 7 Mukti Sthalas(places) of Karnataka(the other six being Udupi, Kollur, Subramanya, Kumbasi, Kodeshwara and Sankaranarayana), one of the three Siddhi Kshetras(the other two being Pushkar and Shaligram) and one of the 108 Shivalayas. Gokarna is 60 km south of Karwar and it takes a journey of 7 hours from the city of Mangalore.
Ravana, King of Sri Lanka, did penance for the grace of Lord Shiva at Mount Kailasa. Lord Shiva agrees to give Athmalingam on the condition that it should be physically carried to Lanka and should not be placed anywhere on the ground. On his way, Ravana stops for a bath and gives the Linga to Lord Ganesha, disguised as a brahmin herdsman, who promptly puts it down.
His efforts to extricate it resulted in riving the coverings of the Linga to Dhareshwar, Gunavanteshwara, Murdeshwar and Shejjeshwar temples (the last places is very near to Karwar). In spite of the 'Mahabala'(tremendous force) exerted by Ravana, the Shivalingam stayed fixed, hence the name Mahabaleshwar. The pull exerted by Ravana is said to have caused the Shivalinga to change its shape to a cow's ear and hence the place got the name Gokarnam. The Ejjeshwara, Gunavanteshwara, Murudeshwara ,Dhareshwara and Mahabaleshwara temple are known as the Pancha Maha Kshetras(five Major Temples).
A mere visit to this temple liberates one from hundreds of sins including the deadliest ones such as 'brahma-hatya' (the killing of a Brahmin or a pious person). Even a glimpse of the Athmalinga of Lord Mahabaleswara, helps one to attain salvation and frees one from the cycle of births and rebirths.
Figure shows Gokarna Ganapathi with original idol in the inset.
According to another legend, Lord Rudra went to Patalaloka(under world) for penance on the advice of Lord Brahma and returned through the ear of Mother Earth, often symbolized as a cow. Since the place served as the womb for him, it is also known as Rudra Yoni or Adi Gokarna.
Figure depicts Lord Ganapathi disguised as a brahmin herdsman to whom Ravana handed over the Shiva linga before going for a bath
The six-foot tall shivalinga can be seen only once in 40 years, when the Ashtabandha Kumbhabhishekam is performed. A temple enshrining Lord Ganesh is located nearby. Apart from the principal deity, the temple houses the idols of Gokarnanayagi, Chandikeswara, Aadi Gokarneswara and Dattatreya. Before entering the temple, devotees usually have a bath in the sea and worship a shivalinga made out of sand.
Shivaratri festival is celebrated here with great enthusiasm. Each year a team builds up two great temple chariots which is used during the Shiva Ratri festival. The two great temple chariots lead a procession through the town's narrow streets, while priests and pilgrims chant hymns in praise of Shiva. More than a hundred people are needed to pull the chariots with thick ropes while priests conduct religious ceremonies inside.
Gokarnam is also mentioned in the Shrimad Bhagavatham where it is related to the two brothers, Gokarna and Dhrindhukari. As per the story, on the banks of Tungabhadra River, flourished a village where lived a Brahmin named Atmadevan. He had a wicked wife, named Dhrindhuli. Although lived together for quite a long, the couple wasn't blessed with a child. One day Atmadevan met a saint on a hermitage in the nearby forest. Atmadevan begged to the saint to give him proper advice in this matter. Saint studied Atmadevan's horroscope and came to know that Atmadevan won't have a child in this life. So he told Atmadevan to lead rest of his life as a sage. Atmadevan didn't take this advice. He again pleaded for the same thing again and again. Finally, saint gave Atmadevaan a fruit and told him that his wife should eat it. After eating the fruit, wife should also lead an year of purgation.
But his wicked wife tricked Atmadevan with the help of her younger sister. Younger sister was pregnant at that time and she told Dhrindhuli that after her delivery she will handover her child to Dhrindhuli for price. Dhrindhuli was happy and gave the fruit to her cow. Her sister gave birth to a child who was named as Dhrindhukari. Three months after consuming the fruit, cow also gave birth to a child who had ears that of a cow. He was named as Gokarnan. Gokarnan was grown as a saint while Dhrindhukari was grown as a sinner. Dhrindhukari started teasing his parents. Fed up with all this, Atmadevan went to the forest and started meditating there. Meanwhile Gokarnan started his journey to holy places. Unable to deal with Dhrindhukari's pestersome attitudes, Dhrindhuli committed suicide. Dhrindhukari soon turned his home into a whore-house and engaged in robberies.
One day, warriors of the King attacked Dhrindhukari's house. To save themselves from the blade of the warriors, the harlots together set the building to fire. All the sluts then escaped through the back door leaving Dhrindhukari for the mercy of the flames. After the death, Dhrindukari's soul didn't get peace. On hearing about the sad demise of his brother, Gokarnan returned to his home-land. He did give last rites to his brother at Gaya. But Dhrindhukari's soul didn't attain salvation. Knowing this, Gokarnan started propitiating Surya. Along with this, Gokarnan also started Bhagavatha Sapthaham(Recitation of Bhagavatham which completes in seven days). Among the audience, Dhrindhukari's soul was also there, seated in a bamboo-stem. At the end of the Sapthaham, soul got salvation and it went to Vishnuloka. The place where Gokarnan did the great Sapthaham was later came to be known as Gokarnam.
