This is how Ravana's tug of war reshaped the Shivalinga, Gokarna Mahabaleshwar Temple
Suspense Crime, Digital Desk : India has many Shiva temples that can even put the science of our day to shame with their mystery. One such famous Shiva temple is the Mahabaleshwar temple at Gokarna in Karnataka, the mystery of which is directly related to the story of Ravana of Ramayana times. This temple is also called as the Kashi of South India. Let's know the mythological story behind the formation of this temple.
The Gokarna Sri Mahabaleshwara Temple is one of the popular pilgrimages dedicated to Lord Shiva, situated on the western coast of the Indian state of Karnataka. This temple holds an extremely significant position among the followers of Lord Shiva in South India and the Atmalinga housed within it is believed to belong to ancient times, increasing the divinity of the temple among the devotees.
What does the legend associated with the temple state?
According to an age-old and popular legend of the temple, Ravana, the Rakshasa King of Lanka and descendant of the demons, performed very tough tapasya (meditation) to achieve the most powerful Atma Linga in the entire universe from Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva, pleased with the king's deep meditation, finally blessed him with a very powerful Atmalinga.
To prevent Ravana from making misuse of this power, Lord Ganesha, dressed as an innocent child, playfully installed the Atmalinga at Gokarna and it turned immovable( immovable). Henceforth, Lord Shiva has resided here as Mahabaleshwara. Mahabaleshwara comes from the Sanskrit term Mahabala (a name for Shiva meaning "great power"), which refers to the rare strength and powers of the Atmalinga.
The Gokarna Atmalinga's shape resembles that of a cow's ear.
Another popularly held legend associated with the Atmalinga of Gokarna is that after placing it on the ground Ganesha, disguised as a child, caused it to sink into the earth and it became immovable. Ravana tried his level best to lift the Atmalinga off the ground, but failed to achieve this difficult feat.
This entire struggle of pulling and pushing that ensued caused the Atmalinga to get twisted into the shape of a cow's ear (Gokarna) and it is believed by many devotees that the Atmalinga present in the temple represents this shape.
Unlike many other temples where the devotee is supposed to offer prayers to the deity from afar, here at the Gokarna temple the devotee is free to touch the deity, offer prayers and receive blessings from Lord Shiva's Mahabaleshwar. This facility is the primary reason behind this temple being considered more sacred than others.
