Before starting the blog post I would like to salute all the graffiti artists all over the world.
Here’s a definition of graffiti from our side.
Graffiti: Draw what you love <3
It takes great deal of patience and dedication to complete a masterpiece. Starting up with great zeal is one thing & to finish off in style is another.
Before visiting Gokarna, we tried to research as much as possible about the city. We read the entire wikipedia page dedicated to the city of Gokarna. We read as much blogs about the city as possible. We had an image of Gokarna as the following :
- Holy Land of Shiva
- One of the 7 important Hindu pilgrimage centers
- Less commercialized than Goa
- Situated in Uttara Kannada
- Hippie’s Paradise
I had already visited the city in its peak, during the month of December. And had a feeling that I have already covered Gokarna. But trust me, I was wrong.
All my research went for a toss as soon as we stepped on the city. This was the month of September. An off-season for the city in terms of tourists visiting. So all the beaches like Kudle and Om beach were quiet this time. But we were in for a treat!
Visiting a place during off-season gives you the chance to witness things which you would easily ignore during the peak.
As soon as we stepped out of KSRTC bus in the Gokarna bus stand, the first thing we did was to search for Kudle Beach in Maps! And google maps said 2.7 kms . We first thought of taking an auto. But then we decided to walk to the beach.
And looking back it was the best decision to cover the distance by foot..!!!
Gokarna is for everyone.
Some visit this city in search of Shiva.
Some come for soul searching.
We saw a first glimpse of this in the form of those simple yet intriguing graffitis!!
“This is the way to God” – reads the above Graffiti. It was actually pointing towards Kudle beach. We decided to follow it.
We couldn’t stop ourselves from taking out our cameras after witnessing such soothing landscapes along the way! Soon we reached out our destination ie). Kudle Beach.
2.7 kms were over soon, but the quest for more was not!! In fact it had just begun!
Gokarna surprised me ! People say if you want to enjoy Gokarna, stay on the beach. I say if you are a little bit curious and want to explore, just walk around the city.
Those 2.7 kms gave me an altogether new perspective about Gokarna. The perspectives which are missing in all the guide-books. And we decided to name it as “The Graffiti Trail In Gokarna”
Now that’s the Hindu God Lord Ganesha, widely revered as the remover of all obstacles!
After covering all the beaches we decided to come back to the city. The graffitis were calling us back. We could sense them calling
“Come witness Gokarna in a whole new way. Witness the different flavors and colors of Gokarna through us. Get soaked in divinity and get a chance to meet many Hindu Gods including Shiva through our eyes ( Graffiti’s perspective )!!”
We had already decided and said to ourselves. Let’s just do it. Let’s try to visit all the graffitis present in the city. Everyone is aware of “Beach trail” and “Trek trail”. Let’s start a new trend
“Graffiti trail”
We got the chance to witness some amazing creativity along the way. Among all the graffitis, there was a one with political slogans written on it.
Yeahh, Welcome to India
The plan was to cover each and every graffitis along the city. And I think we succeeded. While some of them were really interesting. We had no clue about some of them, like the above.
Cows hold a great significance in Hinduism and are worshipped like Goddesses.
We also met this Aghori baba along the way. The most “Yo baba” that I have come across
Now this journey of graffiti trail turned out to be a whole new experience for us. As Gokarna is mostly popular for its untouched beaches, hippies, Lord Shiva connection and of course, the holy stuff ! But the graffiti trail helped us in understanding the city’s architecture and how things have changed over the course of time. It also helped in understanding the core values of Gokarna to some extent.
Let’s leave you with a travel quote this time :
I blog about my travel experiences on www.srijalism.com
Cheers !
Stay Awesome and Travel :)
