Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna – Religious Practices

Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna – Religious Practices

Gokarna is adored as a Shaiva pilgrimage centre than a tourist destination, and as important as Kashi and Rameshwaram pilgrimage places for Hindus. The meaning of Gokarna is "Cow's Ear" (Go means Cow and Karna means Ear). Gokarna is located between the Gangavali and Agnashini river mouth and it is named for the ear-shaped confluence of two rivers.

The religious practices observed by most devotees, who are accompanied by their priests, consist of shaving their head, fasting and then taking a bath in the Arabian Sea, opposite the temple. They then pay obeisance to Lord Ganesha (the elephant headed god) deified in the Shri Maha Ganapathi temple, which is a few yards away from the Mahabaleshwar temple.

After observing these religious procedures, devotees visit the main shrine of Mahabaleshwar for the Darshanam (the auspicious sight of a deity). The idol is placed inside a pit on the floor. The devotees can touch the idol and do the puja by themselves. This is in contrary to other temples where the devotees are neither allowed to touch the idol nor do puja.

The temple is significantly considered as one of the seven holy Mukti Sthala temples (place of salvation) in Karnataka. The other six Mukti Sthalas are at Udupi, Subramanya, Kollur, Kumbasi Sankaranarayana and Koteshvara. It’s a common practice among the Hindu devotees to perform the last rites of their deceased relatives at the Mahabaleshwar Temple. Gokarna is also respected as Siddhi Kshetra.