Shiva Cave Temple is an interesting place that is not very popular among tourists in Gokarna yet. The cave has a Shiva Lingam inside with beautiful surroundings. The interiors are dark, so the tourists are advised to carry a torch light when visiting the place. There are also many bats living in the cave and the cave also has an interesting legend associated with it.
Stay at our Resort in Gokarna, Red Earth Gokarna, and visit the ancient cave temple. The Shiva devotees come here to seek fulfillment of their wishes.
Before the Universe was created, there was a competition among the Trimurtis. The one who is the most Tapasvi will be the creator followed by the preserver and then the destroyer. At that time even the land was not created nor water. After a hundred years Brahma and Vishnu came out after Tapasya. Maheshwar was still in Tapasya. They waited for a long time and then started creating the universe. Shiva then got trapped on the Earth. He then used the power of his third eye and came out. While coming out of the soil, the cave-like structure was found.
Another legend has a story associated with Ravan, the demon king of Lanka. Ravan received the atmalinga from Shiva after he had performed a penance at Mount Kailash reciting self-composed Shiva-tandava-stotram. Ravana was instructed by Shiva that the sacred atmalinga should not be placed on the ground as it would establish itself wherever it is placed on earth.
On his way to Lanka, while Ravan was in Gokarna, Vishnu hid the sun with his Sudarshan Chakra since he knew that Ravan was punctual in performing his periodical rites called Sandhyavandhana. So Ravan stopped in Gokarna for his evening prayers. But he was not supposed to keep the atmalinga down. So he looked around and saw a Brahmin kid wandering, who was Lord Ganesh in disguise. He asked the kid to hold the atmalinga in his hand until he comes back from Sandhyavandanam after finishing his rites.
The kid 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. As soon as Ravan started the rites, Ganesha hurriedly called Ravan three times and vanished after placing the Atma linga on the earth. Once placed on the earth, the Atma Linga got firmly entrenched. Ravan realized that he had been deceived by the Gods.
Ravana tried to extract it, resulting in throwing the wrappings of the Linga to Surathkal, Dhareshwar, Gunavanteshwar, Murudeshwar, and Shejjeshwar temples. Lingam did not move even a bit, it just got a little twisted to the shape of a cow’s ear, hence the name Gokarna.
The place is a must-visit, in Gokarna if you are looking for spirituality. Not very far from our resort in Gokarna, Red Earth Gokarna. The Shiva cave temple is about a 500 meters uphill trek from the Kudle beach and then about 4 steps down into the cave. You will see a small board stuck on the trunk of a tree stating Shiva Cave once you get into the jungle near Kudle beach. There are no landmarks and no one to guide you, so you will have to find your way into the cave on your own. Navigation maps also don’t help much in the region. And if you are destined to reach, you will. There is an orange flag to indicate the location on the spot.
A hole in the wall-like structure will lead you into the cave with a small temple inside. The cave is unique. It’s mostly dark but the hole allows sun rays to come inside. The sun rays fall near the Atma Lingam which looks beautiful. The cave is inhabited by small bats that sit on the ceiling of the side niches. But if you visit in the afternoon, you will not be disturbed by them. The place can give you thrills if you are visiting alone but you can find saints meditating inside. You can join them too.
Staying in our resort in Gokarna, Red Earth Gokarna, you can visit this thrilling and spiritual place.
