Gokarna

Gokarna a small temple town located in the magnificent Indian state of Karnataka used to mainly be known for the ancient mahabhaleshwar temple. Gokarna is one of the seven important Hindu pilgrimages. The mahableshwar temple is believed to have one of the original images of Lord shiva's lingam.

  

Culturally there are two sides of gokarna. It is considered as a pilgrimage town and is visited all year long by Lord shiva devotees and the other side is that of the tourists. In recent years , gokarna has become a cheap holiday destination for tourists from all over the world. There are five main beaches in the temple town

• Gokarna beach-The most crowded beach. Most locals use this beach at it is accessible by road.This beach is quiet dirty and is not preferred by tourists. This beach has the longest coastline amongst the other beaches in Gokarna.The beach is a ten minute walk from the Gokarna bus stand and a five minute walk from the mahableshwar temple. This beach lies in the northern part of gokarna and is followed by other beaches which lie in the southern part of Gokarna.The Gokarna beach is accessed by foot, rikshaw and boat. During season,there is water sports in this beach.

Gokarna beach

• Kudle beach- The kudle beach is one of the most tourist filled spots in the town. There is not much to do here except relax.The people,the place,the food,the beer.Everything falls in perfect balance for a perfect holiday here.There are two enterence on either side of the beach.this beach is accessible by foot,boat and rikshaws.By foot, it is a small ten minute trek from the gokarna beach. The trek can be very beautiful in daylight with the arabian sea on one side and a hilly terrain on the other.the autowalas tend to charge in multiples of hundreds and hence people prefer walking . The boat guys also tend to charge high especially if there are lesser number of people willing to take the boat. So its better to find other tourists who want to go to the same beach as you and share a boat.The beach is fully lined up with resturants serving great sea food and beer. Most resturants have shacks where you can stay.There are shacks ranging from 300 INR to 3000 INR per night. Many hippies tend to find shelter in kudle beach because of its tranquility .The beach water is pretty clean and swimming here is more or less safe although there are on life guards here.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

Kudle beach

• Om beach-This beach is around 6 kms from the town along a muddy hill terrain.This beach is named so because of its shape which is that of the auspicious ॐ symbol .This beach has also got nice shaks all along and its slightly more expensive than the kudle beach. Just like kudle , tourists come here to have a peaceful vacation. It is accessible by walk,boat or rikshaw.

Om beach

• Paradise beach-This beach is the smallest beach in gokarna. It has been considered as Lord shivas  gift to the people by many tourists.Usually there are only about 20 people in this beach as it is accessible only by boat or by a long trek.This beach is kept away from the commercial shaks and resturants. There is a beach volleyball court and a middle aged lady who cooks south indian meals for a small amount of  money.The beach is truly paradise for anyone who considers a quiet secluded place as a perfect place to holiday.Anyone who plans to stay at paradise beach will have to camp there.A tent,water and food is a must and everything else necessary to satay in a place where there are absolutely no shops.
  
   paradise beach
  
  
   The cooks of paradise beach
  
  
   paradise
  
  
   a stone engraving in paradise beach
  
  
   two guys walking on a rope 

• Halfmoon beach-This is a beach just like the beaches in goa. There are many shaks here too and they are pretty cheap. The trek from here to om beach at midnight is a famous one and dont be surprised if you see many people are on a trek at odd hours.

Now this place gokarna is easily one of the most peaceful places in india . The cops are nicer than you expect and the locals are quiet friendly.This place to me is really like heaven a i would never think twice before visiting gokarna. Many people compare Gokarna and Goa but the fact is they are two very different vacations altogether.Goa is a place where you go and get sloshed but gokarna is not like that. Its a place to be peaceful and relax.