By Road: 32 km from Kumta / 42 km from OmBodhi Retreat.

By River & Road: 14 km from OmBodhi Retreat by crossing the river Aghanashini (combination of road & river ferry)

Gokarna is a small town famous as a pilgrimage centre and also known as Kashi of the South India.

The main attraction of Gokarna is Mahabaleshwar Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva and houses the Atmalinga. According to Hindu mythology, the Atmalinga was given to ‘demon’ king Ravanaof Lanka by Lord Shiva himself.

On his way back to his kingdom Lanka, Ravana stopped here for his evening prayers. He had been instructed by Lord Shiva not to keep the Atmalinga on the ground, since it would be fixed wherever it touched ground. Atmalinga was a powerful weapon and Devatas did not want Ravana to get such a powerful weapon, fearing destruction.

Lord Ganesh took the avatar of a boy and offered Ravana to hold the Atmalinga during his prayer. Ganesha then kept the Atmalinga on ground before Ravana returned from prayer. Ravana, in extreme anger, tried pulling out the Atmalinga from the ground, breaking it in the process. Due to extreme force exerted by Ravana to remove Atmalinga from the ground, it broke into pieces and flew all over the region.

Besides Mahabaleshwara temple, the other prominent temples in Gokarna include Maha Ganapathi temple, Bhadrakali Temple, Varadaraja temple and Venkataramana temple.

Gokarna is also popular for its beaches like Om Beach, Kudle Beach, Gokarna Beach, Paradise Beach, Half-moon Beach etc.