Gokarna is a small temple town located in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state in southern India, It has a population of around 20,000. Shiva is the most worshipped deity in the town. Gokarna's main temple, Mahabaleshwara, is dedicated to Shiva. The temple houses what is believed by some to be the earliest Shiva lingam (Atmalinga).
Gokarna is known as one of seven important centers of pilgrimage in Hinduism. It lies on what was once an unspoiled coastline at the estuary of the River Aghanashini. Due to an increase in tourism, the character of the town has changed, and is no longer just a center of pilgrimage, though large numbers of Shiva devotees continue to visit for prayer and worship.
Gokarna is the one of the best beach destinations for tourists in the whole of India. It is very popular for beach trekkers.
*There are a handful of local restaurants and dhabas in the town proper (including a couple of good options at the end of the main road where it hits Gokarna Beach). *Excellent local restaurants on the right just before the arch that leads into the main street. Incredibly cheap all-you-can-eat thalis, just don't drink the regular water though; buy yourself some bottled water. Street food is good, particularly the little fried pies and bhel puri. Fish (pomfret, kingfish, seer being the popular ones) is served fried, roasted or curried; as you like it. *All the beaches have basic accommodation and beach shacks (in season) serving food and drink. *In Namaste cafe at Om beach you can get Mexican, Israeli, Indian food, and delicious sea food like Prawn Masala and King Fish Sizzler. Some Nepali people also run a really good restaurant from a straw and bamboo hut on Kudlee beach.
*Fresh coconuts are widely available as are delicious lassis. *You may be able to find beer (around ₹240 for Kingfisher) at any of the guesthouse restaurants on Om Beach. Some have harder liquor that you would have to ask for, since it's not legal for the restaurants to sell harder alcohol. *There is a wine shop selling all sort of liquor right outside the bus stand in the main town. *Green Bar and Restaurant, next to the bus stand, has a wine shop on the ground floor and an eating & drinking area on the first floor balcony. There's no barman to mix drinks for you. When you order your liquor, the waiter will simply get the bottle for you and then it's up to you how you fix your drinks. The restaurant is run by couple of very enthusiastic boys from Nepal.
The small shops in the town sell religious items, psychedelic T-shirts and clothes for cheap. Trance music CDs and if you spin fire, (cotton) pois are available as well.
Malas (prayer beads), incense, cheap jewellery and religious paraphernalia are sold in dozens of stalls along the main road and gathered around temple entrances.
It is next to impossible to find some accommodation during the peak season. So, book in advance. (This might be outdated, since there are many guesthouses in Kudle Beach these days.)
Gokarna means ''cow's ear'' in Sanskrit. One of the Hindu epics states that "aatmalimga" of the God Shiva is in the shape of a cow's ear in the Mahabaleshwar temple and the town gains its name as Gokarna.
The town is mostly centred around the KSRTC bus stand. About a kilometre from the bus-stand, the Gokarna beach starts, forming the coast of the town. As you trudge along the narrow lanes of the town towards the beach (the lane is named 'Samudra Marg'), you will come across houses of priests where some religious talk will be going on or people invoking the Holy Lord with chants.
Most foreign tourists come to stay on one of the 4 beaches just south of town. Kudlee Beach is the first, about a 20-minute walk, followed by Om Beach, Half Moon Beach and the secluded Paradise Beach - the beaches get more remote and less populated as you head south.
The most popular time to visit Gokarna is during the 4-day Shiva Ratri festival, when 2 giant chariots are pulled down the main street and up to 20,000 pilgrims descend on the town.
