Do you want to visit Gokarna and Murudeswar in 4 days by public transport during the long weekend? As Visakhapatnam is the last point of Andhrapradesh, let us plan our trip from Visakhapatnam.
Sthala Purana of Gokarna
Gokarna is a small temple town on the western coast of India in the Kumta taluk of Uttara Kannada district of the state of Karnataka. The main temple and deity are Lord Shiva, who is also known as Mahabaleshwara. This temple houses what is believed to be the original image of Lord Shiva's linga (Atmalinga).
The earliest history of the city is in Treta Yuga, Ravana (Demon/Asura King of Lanka) reaches Kailasa and performed rigorous penance to get the "Atma Linga" from Lord Shiva, as Ravana's mother expressed a keen desire to worship the Atmalinga of Lord Shiva.[5][6] After a long penance, Shiva gave the Atma linga to Ravana as a boon and instructs Ravana to carry it home by walk, that he should never place it on the earth even for a short while failing which the linga would get eternally embedded at the place where he broke his commands.
Lord Maha Vishnu learned that Ravana will become all-powerful by worshipping the 'Atma Linga' and menace to the world and Ravana's conviction that nobody could defeat him, once he acquired the very power of Shiva. Maha Vishnu devised a plan to install the linga somewhere and as he thought that Lord Ganapati was alone capable of doing it, he along with all the gods pleased Ganapati to execute the plan. Lord Ganapati accepts and reaches Gokarna as a Brahmin boy.
As Ravana was nearing Gokarna, Maha Vishnu who had known well that Ravana was punctual in performing his periodical rites (Sandyavandhana), hides sun with his Sudarshana Chakra (Wheel). Thinking that it was time to perform the evening rites, Ravana finds a Brahmin boy and asked him to hold the Atmalinga in his hand till he came back after finishing the rites. Ganapati agreed to hold the linga on one condition that he would do so till he would be able to bear the weight of linga and that thereafter he would call Ravana three times and if failed to come to him by then he would place the linga on the earth.
Ganapati calls Ravana three times when he was performing his rites and places the linga on the earth and he vanished. The Atmalinga at once got firmly entrenched in the earth. Ravana learned that he had been tricked by the Gods. The depressed demon king Ravana was deeply agitated and tried to pull up the linga, but the linga did not budge a little. It resulted in his throwing the coverings of the Linga to Dhareshwara, Gunavanteshwara, Murudeshwara, and Shejjeshwar temples. Ravana was unable to lift the linga from the ground again and called the Shiva linga as Mahabala, one with great strength, and ever since, the linga illustrious as Mahabaleshwara. Shiva learned all these from Vayu Deva, the god of wind, and came on to Earth with Goddess Parvathi Devi and his train of Gods, he visited these five places and worshipped the linga which had now taken five forms. He acknowledged that these five places would be his "Pancha Kshetras"
Let us plan our tour to Gokarna and Murudeshwar.
Day 0:
13:05 - Leave from Visakhapatnam by Prashanthi Express (18463)
Day 1:
4:35 - Reach Guntakal
1hr 5min buffer time in Guntakal
5:40 - Leave Guntakal by Vijayawada - Hubballi, Amaravathi Express (17225)
11:25 - Reach Hubballi. Fresh at Hubballi station and have your lunch at Hubballi.
Take an auto and head to the Hubballi bus stand.
13:00 - Take a bus to Ankola. There will be buses from Hubballi to Ankola for every 15 minutes.
16:15 - You will reach Ankola.
From Ankola you will get buses to Gokarna
16:30 - Catch the bus to Gokarna
17:30 - Reach Gokarna.
After Reaching Gokarna check into the hotel. Then take a scooter for rent. The rent of the scooter starts from Rs. 450/- for 24hrs. Then head to Kundle beach to experience the sunset. Enjoy your night at Kundle beach.
If you don't want to go for a beach trek follow this plan. If you want to go for a beach trek see this link for an alternate plan : https://travelwithmanju.blogspot.com/2020/09/gokarna-murudeshwar-and-udupi-in-4-days.html
Day 2:
Try to wake up early.
5:00 - Start from your room and visit Visit Bhadrakali temple, Mahabaleswar temple, Maha Ganapathi temple, and Shiva Cave.
8:00 - Go to Om beach and have breakfast at Namaste Cafe. Then do some fun activities at Om beach.
10:00 - Leave from Om beach.
11:00 - Reach Vibhuti falls. Enjoy at Vibhuti falls.
12:00 - Leave from Vibhuti falls.
12:30 - Reach Yana caves. Have fun at Yana caves.
13:30 - Leave from Yana caves.
14:30 - Come back to Gokarna. Have lunch. Vacate your room and return your vehicle.
15:30 - Board the bus heading towards Kumta. You will get a bus to Kumta every 5 minutes.
16:30 - Get down at Mirjan fort. Visit Mirjan fort. Fort closes at 17:30.
17:30 - Take an auto to Kumta.
18:15 - Board a bus heading towards Bhatkal and get down at Murudeshwar.
18:45 - Get down at Murudeswar railway station. Take accommodation near the temple and check into your hotel.
19:30 - Visit statue park for light and sound show and then head to Murudeshwar beach. Enjoy your night on the beach.
Day 3:
5:00 - Go to the temple and have darshan. Then visit the Statue park. Then climb to raja gopuram for the panoramic view of Mrudeswar temple.
This temple is built on the Kanduka Hill which is surrounded on three sides by the waters of the Arabian Sea. It is dedicated to Sri Lokankara, and a 20-storied gopura is constructed at the temple. The temple authorities have installed a lift that provides a breath-taking view of the 123-feet Sri Shiva idol from the top of the Raja gopura. There is also a Rameshwara linga at the bottom of the hill, where devotees can do seva themselves. A Shaneswar temple has been built next to the idol of Sri Akshayaguna. Two life-size elephants in concrete stand guard at the steps leading to it. The entire temple and temple complex, including the 237.5-feet-tall Raja Gopura.
Rajagopuram @ Murudeshwar
A huge towering statue of Lord Shiva, visible from great distances, is present in the temple complex. It is the second tallest statue of Lord Shiva in the world. The statue is 123 feet (37 m) in height
Shiva statue @ Statue park, Murudeshwar temple.
8:00 - Come back to your home and have breakfast. Vacate your room and book a cab to Jog falls.
9:00 - Head towards Jog falls.
--------98km---------
11:00 - Reach Jog falls. Have fun at Jog falls.
13:00 - Have lunch at Jog falls and leave from Jog falls.
----------98km--------
15:00 - Reach Murudeswar. Get a bus near Murudeswar railway station.
You will get buses to Udupi for every 30 mins. Even you can catch a bus heading toward Mangalore.
18:00 - You will Reach Udupi. Visit the temple.
20:30 - Reach back to the Udupi railway station and have your dinner.
21:04 - Catch train at Udupi railway station. Book your tickets in Karwar - Yeshwanthapur Express (16596).
Day 4:
08:00 - Reach Yeshwanthapur. Fresh up at Yeshvanthapur railway station. Have your breakfast and come to Banglore city railway station.
(Optional plan 1: 9:30 - Leave Yeshwanthapur and reach Orion mall. It will take 10 minutes. by 12:30 come to Sandalwood metro station which will take 5 minutes by walk from Orion mall. Within 15 mins. you will reach Kempegowda metro station which is opposite of Bengaluru City railway station)
(Optional Plan 2: Catch metro at Yeshvantapur metro station and get down at Mahalakshmi metro station. it will take 10 mins. to reach Mahalakshmi. Then visit the Iskon temple. Iskon temple Visiting takes almost 2 hrs. Then take the metro from Mahalakshmi metro station. Within 15 mins. you will reach Kempegowda metro station which is opposite of Bengaluru City railway station)
(Optional plan 3: Catch metro at Yeshvanthapur railway station. Within 20 mins. you will reach the Kempegowda metro station which is opposite of Bengaluru City railway station. Take rest in the Lounge / Waiting hall of Banglore City Railway Station)
13:40 - Catch Prashanthi Express at Bangalore city railway station (18464).
Day 5:
13:05 - Reach Visakhapatnam.
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