Sacred Gokarna - Picture-Perfect Tourist Town in Karnataka, India

Important Note: 

1. Check the COVID 19 travel restrictions of the place online before undertaking your sojourn.
2. Kindly note that the Distance of places, Prices, Hotel rates, Temperature, and other figures may change according to the conditions prevailing at the time of your visit. There may even be short cuts and extra conveyance available that you can avail of when traveling locally. Tourists must conduct their own research before traveling and take due diligence on rates & distances from authorized online sources. All the facts and information provided in relation to the place is for my own personal use and collected from different online sources and collated together. For more details, Click this link DISCLAIMER.

'Go Goa' has always been the hippie cry during the 70s and 80s, but did you know that they were also attracted to the fascinating coastal town of Gokarna, in the Western Ghat region. Gokarna was the quiet performer among the other coastal towns, but its hold on the tourist circuit swelled from the 90s. Gokarna's prominence grew to a level where hippie trails just ended here and continued. The hippies entering Goa also made sure to halt at their next pitstop - Gokarna. Hordes of hippies with their carefree lifestyle, banana shorts, Hawaiin shirts, and strumming guitars landed here in gay abandon as if they had found their next beach haven. Gokarna means 'Cows Ear' and hence the name. It is at the confluence of serene Gangavalli and roaring Aganashini river.  Gokarna is hailed as one of the seven 'Muktishalas' in the state of Karnataka. 

"OM BEACH" by Sankara Subramanian, Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Although famous for its religious significance and rustic ambiance, Gokarna's fame has spread across international borders. The reason for its sudden tourism growth was due to its uninterrupted and hidden location. Now it's not a sleepy town anymore. Cafes, resorts, adventure activities, and yoga communes have changed the landscape to a stage, where you will not believe that this is the same Gokarna of the 70s. It is also a spot where film shoots have taken place, and commercialization has taken place rapidly. 

Tourists & pilgrims alike have a special affinity to 2 attractions in Gokarna, and for which it is most known for - Mahabaleshwar Temple & the world-famous OM Beach (naturally shaped 'Om' symbol carved on the banks). If you belong to any of the categories of people and have missed these spots, then probably you have not seen Gokarna fully. Even Shivaji Maharaj visited a temple in Gokarna before conquering Sadashivgad in Karwar.