Gokarna

Gokarna is a small pilgrimage town on the coast in the Karnataka state of India. It's a conservative Hindu pilgrimage town, home to several temples and festivals. The town is full of locals and pilgrims, and doesn't have much in the way of facilities for tourists, other than a handful of guesthouses and local restaurants.

Understand
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.

By train
Gokarna is connected by rail through Karwar, Ankola, Hubli, Mangalore, Kumta and Margao. The Konkan Railway and many other trains pass through Gokarna - Kumta (35 km) and Ankola (20 km) are the nearest major railway stations.

Gokarna Road (GOK) is the station nearest to the town itself, on the Konkan Railway. Train No. 16513/14 Bangalore City- Karwar Express (4 days a week) & 16523/24 Bangalore City- Karwar (Triweekly) Express have at halt at Gokarna Road, along with Mathsyagandha Express (Daily) (Mangalore Central to Mumbai Lokamanya Tilak Terminus), Marusagar Express (Weekly) (Ernakulam Junction to Ajmer ) & Poorna Express (Weekly) (Pune to Ernakulam)  Connections to Gokarna town (8 km away) are available by



There are regular government buses going from both Kumta and Ankola to Gokarna for about ₹10-15.

From Gokarna bus stand, the bus stop to get off is Madangeri junction.

By bus
From Bangalore, depending on the day of travel, there are anywhere from 1-4 buses operated by KSRTC. It is a 12-hour overnight journey from Bangalore to Gokarna. The experience taking the overnight sleeper was described as "being driven in a bouncy castle driven by the wicked witch of the west" - beware.

Private buses also operate from Hampi/Hospet. You can book online tickets to Gokarna from any one of the operators' websites. National highway 17 is about 9 km from the town. From Badami, the cheapest option is to take NWKRTC buses to Hubli, Ankola and Gokarna (9 hours, possible in one day).

The Bangalore - Goa highway passes through Ankola which is 20 km from the town. Coming down to Kumta is a good option because one can easily catch buses to different places (especially Mangalore) as it is well connected.

If arriving from Goa, you can take a local bus from Madgaon or Canacona to Karwar, then catch another bus to Gokarna. There is a regular (every 30 minutes or so) NWKRTC bus service between Gokarna and Ankola.

From Mumbai, there are bus services of NWKRTC to Karwar. There is also a private bus service of Canara Pinto which drops off at Gokarna on its way to Mangalore. But the drop will be at Madangeri junction adjacent to a Petrol Pump and from here it is 12 km to Gokarna Mahableshwar temple.

There are buses from Bellekan village to Gokarna.

From Gokarna you can get a ticket at the numerous travel agencies in town, and the bus will depart from Cheack (SIC) Post, five minutes walk from the bus stand, on the wider part of Gokarna Road.

By plane
The nearest airport is in Goa at Dabolim. (Rail link via Margao)

On foot
The most common way to get around, as the town is small and compact. Getting to the beaches is best on foot, although there are some rickshaw and boat services described below.

By bike
Also a convenient way to get around Gokarna. Bicycle rentals are available.

See

 * The Maha Ganapati Temple is meters away from the Shiva Temple and made in honour of Lord Ganesha having played a hand in taking the Atma Linga from Ravana. It is common protocol to first visit the Ganapati Temple & then move to the Shiva Temple.
 * The Mahabaleshvara Temple is one of the largest in town, at the western end towards the beach.

Festivals

 * Visit during Shiva Ratri (Feb-Mar) festival. The celebrations are a tremendous sight to watch as thousands of pilgrims descend on the town.

Beaches
Visit one of the four beautiful beaches to the south. The beaches are pretty clean, but ask locally about swimming, as the currents can be very strong. Accommodation in huts or shacks and food are available always on all the beaches from ₹100 (basic bamboo hut on Kudle beach with mosquito net and electricity, outside shower and toilet) to ₹500-1500 (small cottage-type house with all necessary amenities on Om Beach) per night in the peak season. Om beach, due to its popularity, tends to be a bit more expensive. Same as Kudle, it has several restaurants that call themselves cafés on this beach. Enjoy the sea, sunlight, beer by sitting in any of the cafés near the beach.

Don't fall for the dolphin sight-seeing gimmick from the speed boat vendor. All you get is a 10-min ride and a distant glimpse of something in the water that might be a dolphin.





To get to the beaches beyond Om (Half-moon and Paradise) generally you have to walk from Om. This is not advisable during the monsoon as the walk is quite treacherous. In high season, however, during daytime there are boats cruising between the beaches and picking up the passengers. Usual price for a "shared" boat ride is ₹100 (₹150 for a more remote ride, say from Kudle to Paradise), but you have to wait until there will be several people going roughly in the same direction. You can also "charter" a boat (this can cost you say ₹400 for a return trip to Paradise beach with a one-hour stop there), or can be asked if you want to pay more (₹200 or ₹250) if there are not enough passengers but you do not want to wait.







Buy
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.

Eat

 * 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.

Drink

 * 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.

Sleep
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.)

Respect
Gokarna is a pilgrimage town first and foremost, so it's best to keep this in mind - remain quiet and respectful of local traditions, ask permission (and remove your footwear) before entering any of the temples, and if you must consume alcohol here, do it on the premises of your guesthouse (if you're staying at one of the beaches), not in town.

Anyone carrying Cannabis should be particularly careful. It is common to see Sadhus sitting in a haze of ganja smoke, but don't assume that it's OK for you to do it too. Locals will report you to the police if they see you doing it or smell it about you and the police will treat you politely but firmly and won't accept baksheesh particularly during Shiva Ratri. Expect a term in jail with absolutely no sympathy from your consular officials. There seems to be an "agreement" with the police and the restaurants, however, not to hassle the locals. Use caution at all times, of course.

Go next
There are several other temples near Gokarna. Murudeshwara Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is a 45-min to 1-hour drive from Gokarna.


 * Honavar
 * Goa
 * Hampi
 * Karwar &mdash; An easy day trip by train, bus or taxi since it is merely 55km away; however, there aren't too many direct buses. Ask at the Gokarna bus station. Direct buses at 7:30 & 10:30AM. The better way to go is to go to Ankola and then take another bus to Karwar from there. You can also take the KR-2 train from the Gokarna Road train station. The station is around 9 km outside Gokarna town. Auto rickshaws charge something between ₹100-130 for the trip. The train journey between Gokarna & Karwar is around 45 min. You may not get a seat as the train is in the last leg of its journey. The fare is ₹9. The train is scheduled to arrive at Gokarna Road at around 10:20AM but is often late by an hour or so.
 * Mysore


 * Anshi National Park
 * Udupi