Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna

The Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna is a 4th-century CE Hindu temple located in Gokarna, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka state, India which is built in the classical Dravidian architectural style. It is a site of religious pilgrimage. The temple faces the Karwar city beach on the Arabian Sea in which Hindu pilgrims cleanse before visiting the temple for worship. The temple is considered as holy as the Shiva temple at Varanasi or Kāśi (Kashi) in North India on the banks of the Ganges River. Hence, the Mahabaleshwar temple, Gokarna is known as the Dakshin Kasi ("Kasi of the south"). The temple deifies the Pranalinga ("the reality of God which can be captured by the mind") also called Atmalinga or Shiva Linga In legend, it is said that the deity of the temple will bestow immense blessings to devotees, even to those who only glimpse it.IntroductionThe temple is one of the seven sacred Muktikshetras or Muktistala in Karnataka. It is a place where many Hindus of Karnataka perform obsequies for their departed. The six other Muktikshetras in Karnataka are at Udupi, Kollur, Subrahmanya, Kumbasi, Koteshvara and Sankaranarayana.