Bhairaveshwara Shiva Cave Temple

Bhairaveshwara Shiva Temple is located at Yana close to Sirsi in Uttara Kannada District- Karnataka.A small temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is present below the Bhairaveshwara Shikhara. It is believed that the “linga” here is swayambhu (self-emerged).Water drips from the roof over the linga which adds to the holiness of the place.

The legend also says that, when Lord Shiva was trying to escape from Bhasmasura, he had taken refuge in this very cave. Close to the temple, there’s a 10 feet wide opening in the rock of Bhairaveshwara Shikhara that leads into a cave. Devotees can enter the cave from one end and come out of the other, and complete one revolution to the temple.

Legend
The story is of demon king Bhasmasura who had obtained special boon from Lord Shiva which converts everything he touched into ashes (bhasma). After attaining the boon, he wanted to test his newly acquired powers on Lord Shiva himself, by placing his hand on Lord’s head. Bhasmasura chased Lord Shiva with the intention of destroying him. A worried Lord Shiva decided to seek help from Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu agreed to save Lord Shiva’s life, and to help, he took the form of a beautiful damsel called Mohini. Bhasmasura was so enticed with Mohini’s beauty that he got distracted from his original intention of testing his powers on Lord Shiva. Mohini had challenged Bhasmasura to engage in a dance competition, in which Bhasmasura should perform all the dance steps and poses as she herself does. Bhasmasura agrees for the competition, and the same begins. Few steps into the competition, Mohini very cleverly poses where her hand touches her head. Bhasmasura, to please Mohini, tries to repeat the pose, and places his hand over his own head. Because of the power he had, he was burnt into ashes by his own hands.

It is believed that the fire that emanated during this act was so intense that the limestone formations in the Yana area were blackened.The loose black soil or ash seen around the two large rock formations in the area are cited as proof of the legend by devotees who see them as due to the fire and that ashes produced by Bhasmasura death.The two hillocks are also named for this event: the tall peak being Bhairaveshwara Shikhara (“Shiva’s hill”), and the smaller peak, a few steps down below, being Mohini Shikhara (“Mohini’s hill”) where an idol of goddess Parvathi is installed.

During Maha Shivaratri, annual festivities are held here for 10 days.At this time, devotees on pilgrimage to this place (called ‘Bhairava kshetra), after their ablutions, carry holy water from the spring in the cave to Gokarna for performing Maha Mastakabhisheka of Mahabaleshwara.This has led to a popular saying that.

*ಸೊಕ್ಕಿದ್ದರೇ ಯಾಣ ರೊಕ್ಕ ಇದ್ದರೆ ಗೋಕರ್ಣ

Meaning is :
“Sokku iddare Yana, Rokka iddare Gokarna”- If you have lots of money to spend, go to Gokarna if you are feeling over enthusiastic, visit Yana. This saying was due to extreme difficulty one had to face in the past to reach Yana and eveything seems to be expensive in Gokarna.