Gokarna

(“cow’s ear”) Sacred site (tirtha) in the
state of Karnataka on the shore of the
Arabian Sea, just south of Karnataka’s
border with the state of Goa. Gokarna is
most famous for a temple to the god
Shiva in his form as Mahabaleshvara,
the “exceedingly powerful Lord.”
According to the site’s charter myth,
Shiva intends to perform the work of
creation, but before he begins he
becomes rapt in meditation in the
depths of the earth. The god Brahma
grows impatient with the delay and carries out the work of creation himself.
Shiva is enraged when he discovers what
has happened and is about to force his
way up through the earth, which will
create a terrible cataclysm. The earth
appears to Shiva in the form of a cow,
who begs him to rise to the surface
through her ear. It is claimed that a cave
at Gokarna is the remnant of that passage through which Shiva rose.