There are many places in India named after the cow. Two such places are neighbours — Goa and Gokarna. The latter takes its name from the ear (karna) of a cow (Gau), from which emerged Lord Shiva.
A quaint temple town, it is perhaps the oldest place in the Konkan, which finds mention in both the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The ancient Shiva temple of Mahabaleshwar sits in the centre of the town. Even when neighbouring Goa saw 450 years of Portuguese rule, Gokarna remained unchanged.
Before being ‘discovered’ as a tourist destination, the town was populated with Sanskrit scholars, shrewd priests, easygoing fishermen, florists and farmers. The town’s unhurried pace and laidback culture are hallmarks of the famed Konkani ‘susegad’.
Modern Gokarna’s charm derives chiefly from its old-world character. Losing oneself in the town’s lanes, you find traditional Konkani homes sharing walls with temples and Udupi restaurants. On Shivratri, you will see throngs of pilgrims queuing up at the temple, while the hippie-tourists head straight to the beaches of Kudle, Paradise and Half-moon in the southern part of the town. During the monsoons, the beaches, lined with shuttered shacks and simple home-stays, stay blissfully empty. This is the best time to visit the town, when the only people on the coast are collectors of driftwood and gleeful children. As the rain falls ceaselessly and the sea roars.
Ayan Ghoshis a writer-photographer based in Kolkata