Mahabaleshwar Temple - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Mahabaleshwar Temple - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Mahabaleshwar Temple, Gokarna is a 4th-century CE Hindu temple located in Gokarna, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka state, India which is built in the classical Dravidian architectural style. It is a site of religious pilgrimage. The temple faces the Gokarna beach on the Arabian Sea. The temple deifies the Pranalinga ("the reality of God which can be captured by the mind") also called Atmalinga or Shiva LingaSubramuniyaswami S. S. Dancing with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Catechism Himalayan Academy Publications 2003 p. 847 Accessed 28 October 2010. In legend, it is said that the deity of the temple will bestow immense blessings to devotees, even to those who only glimpse it.Abram D. Rough Guide to Goa Rough Guides 2003 p. 234 - 237. Accessed 27 May 2010.Tourist Guide to Karnataka Sura Books p. 61 - 62 Accessed 27 May 2010. Currently the administrative charge of the temple is with an Overseeing Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice BN Srikrishna, a Retired Justice of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. It is one of the 275 paadal petra sthalams expounded in the Tevaram, a sacred Tamil Shaivite text written during the 6th and 7th centuries by 63 saints called Nayanars. Read more on Wikipedia
Source: en.wikipedia.org