Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna

Mahabaleshwar Temple
Mahabaleshwar Temple at Gokarna
Mahabaleshwar Temple Location within Karnataka
Name
Proper name	Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna
Geography
Coordinates	14°32′36″N 74°18′59″E / 14.54333°N 74.31639°E / 14.54333; 74.31639Coordinates: 14°32′36″N 74°18′59″E / 14.54333°N 74.31639°E / 14.54333; 74.31639
Country	India
State	Karnataka
District	Uttara Kannada District
Locale	Gokarna
Culture
Primary deity	Lord Shiva
Important festivals	Shivaratri Rathyatra
Architecture
Architectural styles	Dravidian architecture
History and governance
Date built	345 - 365 CE
Creator	Mayuravarma of Kadamba

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.

The temple is one of the seven sacred Muktikshetras or Muktistala ("places of salvation") in Karnataka. It is a place where many Hindus of Karnataka perform obsequies (death rites) for their departed. The six other Muktikshetras in Karnataka are at Udupi, Kollur, Subrahmanya, Kumbasi, Koteshvara and Sankaranarayana.

According to legend, the Atmalinga was perforce placed at Gokarna, in the temple precincts where it is now deified. It was Ravana, the demon King of Lanka, known from the epic, Ramayana had carried it there from Mount Kailash in the Himalayas.