Gokarna - Incredible India

Contrasting imageries of
Gokarna
With its sharp divergence in terms of the backpacking and religious
tourists that it draws, the beach destination of Gokarna is a beautiful
example of the east meets west and their co-existence.
Anupam Chanda
Destination
G
okarna’s name features
prominently on milestones
along the Mumbai-GoaMangalore-Kochi highway
NH 17 in the southern
India. However, one needs
to be careful as the town is located about
nine kilometres away from the highway
on a narrow, bumpy road traversed
only by infrequent rickety busses. The
road gradually narrows down to enter a
crowded lane. As I inched ahead, panic
stricken, the human tide parted to make
way, squeezing between my car and the
open gutters beside the road. This is
Gokarna, a beach destination in the south
western state of Karnataka, and a centre
for spiritual energy, set in the backdrop of
a bright coloured landscape.
The small colourful town consciously
resisted the threat of turning into another
Goa through policing its beaches. The
locals take leisure walks at the Gokarna
beaches in the evenings. While Kudle
beach hosts concerts on important dates,
most travellers head for Om beach that
promises interesting evenings around
bonfires and unplugged guitar jams.
During Shivratri, a hindu festival for Lord
Shiva celebrated in February or March
depending on the lunar calendar, the town
is flooded with pilgrims who mark the
occasion by pulling two decorated bulky
chariots with thick ropes and visitors
are encouraged to join in. The place has
two facets – a pilgrimage centre drawing
hordes of devotees and beaches drawing
tourists seeking leisure. However, most
pilgrims confine themselves to the temple
town. Both neatly separated by a series
of hillocks with only one beach straddling
that gap, the Gokarna beach.
A backpacker’s delight
The town was a bastion of orthodox
Brahmins until it began attracting nonindian visitors seeking spirituality, yoga
and virgin beaches. Almost half the people
seen in Gokarna are visitors from outside
India. Being a hit among backpackers from
all over the world, it is a good place to
meet people. Because of the red rocky
soil, known to emitting heat, visitors
leave their shacks for beaches during the
late afternoon where time is well spent
sunbathing, swimming or playing volleyball.
Although it does not cater to the needs of
high-end tourists widely, Gokarna offers
for a few luxurious wellness retreats at
the Om Beach. Backpacking, however, is
a popular way to explore Gokarna. Being
open to connect with the beautiful sea,
people and indulging in scrumptious food.
For most travellers, the holiday begins and
ends at beaches.
INDIA & YOU March-April 2015
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Destination
Early morning yoga classes at an upmarket resort overlooking the Gokarna beach
The Om Beach
The key attraction of Gokarna remains
the Om beach. Although most visited by
the pilgrims as it is only after taking a dip in
the waters of this beach that one can enter
the Mahabaleshwar temple, it is popular
among the travellers as well. Renowned
for its unique Om shaped appearance, the
beach is located about seven kms from
the town along a by-lane with thatched
houses behind shrub fences. About two
kilometres before the beach, a hill on
the right drops away to reveal a yawning
valley with the vast expanse of the Arabian
Sea shimmering beneath. While the two
semicircular shores forming halves of the
‘Om’ are visible, the full shape is clearly
visible only after climbing up the narrow hill
path at the southern end of the beach that
rises upwards to an elevation amidst an
array of coconut trees. This path is also the
route to two other beaches, the Half Moon
and the Paradise Beach. Atop the hill after
a kilometre of walking through a canopy of
forest cover, the path steps outdoors onto
a ledge right above the sea. The crowd, the
restaurants, the noises lay across the.
Being the only beach accessible by road,
this place draws the maximum crowd
with an interesting mix. Beer guzzling
Europeans, who occupy tables at numerous
seaside restaurants, sitting and chatting
lazily in their loose fitting colourful outfits,
is very common sight. Along the edge of
the two arcs of the Om, there are shacks
and cottage hotels that offer rooms for
rent, with hammocks slung out in front of
them. Restaurants dot the contours of Om,
with boards advertising Italian, Lebanese,
Russian and Israeli cuisines, presumably for
the delectation of overseas tourists.
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March-April 2015 INDIA & YOU
Divergent experiences
While the beaches exude a relaxed
vibe, the town starts buzzing from 4 am
and carries on well into the night, with all
it’s activities centred around it’s narrow
winding streets that resemble Goa of the
early 70s. The focal point of the buzz is ,
however, religious with temples such as
Mahabaleshwar and the Maha Ganapati.
Shops selling swimwear and spaghetti tops
amidst shiny brassware and devotional
paraphernalia form a sharp contrast.
Some locals show resentment towards
‘immorality’ that is degenerating the
town. However, there is a nonchalant
acceptance of foreign visitors, who are
naturally sensitive towards not hurting local
sentiments and attempt to blend in. Funnily,
some seem more local than the locals
themselves.
Somewhere between the hoards
of visitors, amidst saffron temples and
rainbow cafes, exists a bucolic village out
of a picture book. There are paddy fields
flanked by coconut trees, clear streams
that reflect moonlit skies, forested
knolls that open up to panoramas of the
Arabian sea and red terracotta roofs only
a few shades darker than the mud walls
supporting them.
After sundown the town morphs into
a laidback twin of it’s daytime avatar. Most
locals head home while pilgrims vanish.
Blackened aluminium kettles bubble
away on tea carts supplying everyone’s
favourite evening glassful. In the multihued
dim lighting Gokarna seems to favour
the vagaries of the afro hairstyle. As
the temple bells ring for the last time
on the day, I think to myself...am I on a
beach, or a religious holiday? I seem to be
constantly flitting between the two, while
my experiences intertwine to form an
unconventional holiday memory. n
Karnataka
Capital
Key Cities
Gulbarga
Belgaum
Bagalkot
Dharwad
Gokarna
Udupi
Yadgir
Bellary
Chitradurga
Chikkamagaluru
Bengaluru
How to reach
Air: Dabolim airport in Goa, about 140 km away, is the
nearest airport that is well connected to Indian and
international cities.
Rail: The nearest railway station is at Ankola, about 20
km from Gokarna. Trains from cities including Mangalore,
Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram,Veraval halt at the station.
From the station, taxi services are available for Gokarna.
Road: Gokarna is well connected by road. KSRTC buses
ply regularly from Bengaluru, Mangalore, Hubli and other
cities of Karnataka. One can also board a bus from Madgaon and other cities of Goa for Gokarna.
Where to stay
Plenty of shacks and guest houses dot the beaches
and the main town with a few luxury hotels at
Om Beach.