Abhishek Goel explores Gokarna, which sits on a secluded seaside spot and is also a major stop point for travelers and Indian pilgrims
I have kind of ambiguous and dubious feelings about describing this very special place because on one hand I feel that this surreptitiously mysterious place should remain as pristine as it was when I first visited there. Because I know that I will visit this place again and again and the selfish side of me wants to keep this place for myself only forever. And on the other hand I feel its my duty to inform the people that such a special place exists in our very own country.
If you are looking for an offbeat adventure, Gokarna is the perfect place for you.Gokarna is a town in the Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka state,with a permanent population just above 25000.Few people know that the all famous Canara bank derives its name from this very district. Me and my friend started our journey from the all famous Palolem (Canacona) Beach,Goa and least did we know that how good a decision we had made by covering the distance of about 3 hours on hired bikes.The scenic beauty and the exquisite coastal town of Karwar on the way were just the start of a splendid journey awaiting us.
We reached Gokarna in the evening just when the sky was ablaze with the sun setting and flaming yellow and fiery orange colors drooling all around us.At first look, some negative thoughts haunted our minds about our decision to spend our 3 days off in a lesser known and infamous Gokarna instead of the booze parties and music in Goa. We reached the Om beach in Gokarna at the time when it was pitch dark and unable to feel or even see the landscape, we just found a nice shack to spend the night in the wait of the morning.
Gokarna means the cow’s ear. As told by the shack owner, Vishnu, the Hindu god Shiva, after being banished by Brahma from Kailasa, returned from hell through the ear of a cow. This is the lore that has been incanted to name the abode of Shiva’s Atma Linga. How his Atma Linga came to be here is another fascinating tale.Ardent Shiva devotee Ravana was taking the form of Shiva, his Atma Linga, to Lanka. Other gods worried it would make Ravana too powerful. So Vishnu orchestrated a sundown, forcing the pious Ravana to perform his evening rituals. Ganesha appeared as a boy and offered to hold aloft the Linga while Ravana bathed. Once Ravana was out of sight, Ganesha firmly lodged the Atma Linga at Gokarna, thus preventing Ravana from taking it to Lanka.
But this all is the mythological side of Gokarna.it is a town of contrasts as it is a temple town and what made me fall in love with this place was a series of splendid and pristine beaches ( I think the best ones and least known in India).
Our trip started the next morning when we woke to catch the glimpse of the rising sun; we were totally awestruck seeing the view on Om beach. Walking up the Om shaped curvature almost all alone at 6 in the morning we could hear the waves breaking in a thundered measure. Around me were the Gokarna forests,echoing with chattering of the thousands of rising birds along with us,it was more melodious than any of the early morning songs, beyond me
the cold and sparkling blue of the sea,the wind punishing the hair.It was at that very moment when I realized that I have been on many beaches in my life but never had such an immense pleasure just in walking on the beach. It truly felt like paradise.
We decided to have breakfast in the all famous Namaste Café . The American breakfast served with fresh Kiwi juice was a delight for our bellies and conversing with some of the hippies (who were living on the beach from the past 1 month now) gave goose bumps when they described the scenic beauty of the area.
We wanted to have a feel of the Gokarna town so we decided to leave the Om beach and went strolling around the streets in the town. The town of Gokarna was as any other pilgrim place with pundits walking around in their traditional dresses.The only unusual thing was that a lot of foreign tourists also could be seen buying stuff from the local market.
The amazing thing about Gokarna is that it offers near-virgin beaches separated by hills and cliffs forming an unending panorama of nature’s beauty at its best. This coastline is surrounded by more than 10 beaches, the popular ones being Gokarna beach, Kudle beach, Om beach, Half moon beach and Paradise beach.
I want the readers to use the Google maps before reading this part and just gaze at top view of the coast of India in this part of the Konkan region. There are a series of small beaches with Kudle beach being the first , next comes Om beach , the only beach in the world to be shaped like the Hindu auspicious symbol AUM, then is the Half Moon beach , and next is the Paradise beach.
The farther you get, the more secluded the place gets , greater the serenity and tranquility ,clearer the water, greater the blissfulness of the landscape.
We started our trek from the Kudle beach, the word is derived from the local word “kudle” meaning small, known for its white sands. Lot of local tourists could be seen here with people taking bath in the crystal clear water. The beach is surrounded on all the three sides by hillocks and the view from the top was stunning.
The trek from Kudle to Om beach was a short one but was wondrous. We witnessed a variety of unnatural flora and fauna, with monkeys also enjoying the weather.
Reaching the Om beach , was an easy task for us, taking only 40 min or so. Om beach is just the same as others, covered by hills and you won’t get the view of the beach till you reach the top of the cliff and then you have to make your way down through the rocky path. The OM shape could be realized standing on the top of the hill.
We had to spend the rest of our days here on the Om beach so we decided to move further. On enquiring we came to know that the others are around a 20 minute hike away from each other through the hills and over rocks, or a short boat ride away.The trek from beach started and our breaths were taken away by just seeing the never ending coastline visible from the top. The trek became more dangerous than before and we wondered was this trek even possible in the monsoon season.
Half moon beach is a small beach with only 3 or 4 odd cafes and only hippies could be seen there with we being the only Indians, apart from the café owners. We decided to take rest as the sun had reached just above the horizon. The setting sun ,with it the light becoming dimmer and dimmer filled our hearts with feelings of joy and haunting us at the same time as we still had to go to the paradise beach and return to Om beach from there safely. We knew that we can’t traverse back on foot in the dark so we had to get a boat ride back. We had to make our way through the jungle literally to reach the paradise beach with only us in the vicinity.
The last beach, Paradise Beach, is not much more than a tiny protected cove that’s a patch of hippie paradise. But as the name goes it was a truly mesmerizing feeling reaching there as very few people decide to cross the jungle and reach this heavenly spot.
On the way we met a fellow named Akiva, an Israeli by nationality,ex armyman who has been living here for 15 years,as he had no family waiting for him back in Israel.We could converse with him only by writing on a rugged piece of paper as his English speaking skills were not efficient . We wondered was he blessed or unfortunate living in a place as secluded as this.
We found a boat with great difficulty from the paradise beach that gave us relief as it was impossible to get near the dense jungle, forget about passing. We had heard that travelers have frequent encounters with cobras,fortunately not with us.
We returned to the Om beach and seeing all the hippies sitting outside on the white sands around a bornfire, singing rock songs of the 70s and drinking beer, relaxing, we joined them and just relaxed through the rest of the night with the only sound heard was of the guitar playing, Jimi Hendrix’s song Purple Haze sung by a beautiful Irish girl (who liked to call herself MAYA) and ofcourse the gushing ocean.
One must travel to Gokarna to get a feel of what Goa was like in its heyday, as the time is not far when the tranquility and seclusion of this place will fall prey to commercialization.
