[4] 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.

Again, legend holds that Mayurasharma wished to learn of the Vedic rites and the Ashwamedha Yagna (ritual of horse sacrifice).

Following his defeat of the Pallavas, the king asked some priests to perform a daily yajna to maintain his suzerainty over the region.

Mayurasharma's son, King Kangavarma brought Brahmin families from different lineages to maintain administration at the temple.

During the 17th-century reign of Queen Chennammaji and her son, Soma Sekharanayaka of Keladi, Visvesvaraya of Halasunadu-Kundapura built the Chandrasala and Nandi pavilions.

In 1676, Fryer, an English traveller, visited Gokarna during the Maha Shivaratri festival and wrote in detail about it at the temple.

[9] The temple is located on the shores of Arabian Sea on the west coast of India, near the city of Karwar.

Indra, the Lord of Heaven, who was jealous of this worship, stole the Shiva Linga and threw it away into the Sea.

Ravana then promised his mother that he would go to Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva, and bring the main Atmalinga itself for her worship.

Lord Shiva agrees to give him the boon, as per the wish of Ravana that the Atmalinga cannot to stolen or removed by anyone, with a condition that wherever the Atma-Linga is placed on the ground, it would remain rooted at that spot forever.

Foreigners, including practicing Hindus of non-Indian (Western) origin are not allowed to enter the sanctum-sanctorum and see the Shivalinga.

The religious practices observed by most devotees, who are accompanied by their priests, consist of shaving their head, fasting and then taking a bath in the Arabian Sea, opposite the temple.

After observing these religious procedures, devotees visit the main shrine of Mahabaleshwar for the Darśana (the auspicious sight of a deity).

The Shivaratri festival, the observance of the union of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati is celebrated in Gokarna on the 14th day of the dark fortnight in the month of Magha, coming either in February or March, when a very large number of pilgrims visit the shrine.

Images of Shiva and other deities are installed in a chariot which is ceremoniously pulled through the town by the devotees, accompanied by drum bands.

The image is 5 feet (1.5 m) tall and two-handed; at the top of its head there is hole that is said to be a mark of a violent blow inflicted by Ravana.

Folklore suggests that sadhus enter Gogarbha and reach the holy city of Kashi (Old Varanasi), a final visiting place for pilgrims.