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Inside Story
Gods, demons and other tales
LAKSHMI SHARATH
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Parashurama Kshetra, Murudeshwar and Gokarna resonate with myths and legends, and the music of waves
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Photo: K. Murali Kumar
A different rhythm At Om Beach
A demon king wants to be immortal, a warrior sage annexes land from the sea and two Gods plot to ensure that power is wielded only by the good.
Such tales of gods and demons lend many a town a history and an identity. I have an appointment with some of the deities who live on the coast.
The salts of the sea tickle the nostrils and the breeze lifts the spirits. The eyes feast on blue-green waters.
I am in Tulu Nadu, erstwhile Emperor Ashoka’s Satiyaputra. Today, it includes Dakshina Karnataka and the coastal Uttara Karnataka.
Where tales abound
Reclaimed from the sea, this coast is said to be carved out by Parashurama’s axe. The story goes that Parashurama had a dispute with Varuna, lord of the seas, and threw his axe to mark his territory.
Called Parashurama Kshetra, the area spans the Konkan coast, covering parts of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The next stops are two ancient temple towns — Murudeshwar and Gokarna — where myths and legends flow with the waves. The seas and the mountains have been witness to a tale set in ancient times, a story about good, evil and a weapon called power.
Ravana, the ambitious but devoted demon king, wanted to become immortal. He performed a rigorous penance to get the Atmalinga from Lord Shiva, who granted him his wish on a condition — the Atmalinga should never be placed on the ground. If it was, it would get embedded there.
Sage Narada, fearing that Ravana may become invincible, approached Lord Vishnu to retrieve it.
Duping Ravana
Our story starts here. Ravana used to perform his rituals religiously in the evening.
Lord Vishnu and Ganesha decided to exploit his devotion.
As Ravana was nearing Gokarna, Lord Vishnu blotted the sun with his Sudarshana Chakra to make it look like evening. A Brahmin boy (Ganesha) approached Ravana, who requested him to hold the Atmalinga until he performed his rituals.
Vishnu’s trick
Ravana returned to find the boy gone and the Atmalinga on the ground. Lord Vishnu removed his Chakra, and it was daylight again. An angry Ravana tried to uproot the Atmalinga.
He threw away everything covering the Linga, including its cloth, to a place called Murudeshwara.
He called the Linga, Mahabala, as he was unable to lift it, and the Mahabaleshwara temple was built in Gokarna.
A small hole in the temple permits devotees to have a glimpse of the top of the Aatmalinga. The Maha Ganapathi temple is another shrine here.
Tourists throng the beaches of this sacred town. But the waves here chant a different rhythm.
They resonate in your ears as you walk down the ‘Om’ beach, shaped like the symbol.
As the waves go ‘Ommmm....’, they seem to echo the tale.
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