Atmalinga

Ravana,
the great asura ruler of Lanka was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva.
He never failed to offer prayers 3 times a day to lord Shiva.
Once he learned that Lord Shiva possessed an Aathmalinga...
Once he learned that Lord Shiva possessed an Aathmalinga...
which was the reflection of the lord himself
which was the reflection of the lord himself
He wanted to get hold of the Shivalinga.
So Ravana set towards the north direction to serve penance to please the lord.
He stood on 1 leg without taking food or water,
and prayed to Lord Shiva for a long time
Lord Shiva pleased of his penance, appeared before him.
Ravana, I am pleased by your devotion.
Ask me for a Boon
Oh Lord,
I wish to own your Aathmalingam.
I have performed this penance to obtain it from you.
As per Ravana's wish Shiva granted him the Aathmalinga...
but posed 1 condition in front of him
Ravana, on any account you should not put this on the ground.
If it placed on the ground no one can remove it from the ground"
Ravana accepted Lord Shiva's condition and started flying towards Lanka
The devas and great sages were shocked to see him with the Aathmalinga
The demon king Ravana is already troubling us more.
If Ravana install this Aathmalinga on Lanka, Oh God!
No one can defeat him.
They were very much worried about this and sought the help of Lord Ganesha.
Don't worry, have no fear.
I shall see to it that Ravana does not take the Aathmalinga to Lanka with him.
As a devotee of Lord Shiva, Ravana never failed to offer his prayers 3 times a day
Oh! Twilight is approaching.
It's the time to offer my evening prayers to Lord Shiva.
What shall I do?
Ravana was deeply immersed in his thoughts,
and he also remembered the condition of Lord Shiva.
He reached a place in the northern part of Karnataka.
He was near the seashore and there was no one in sight.
Ravana suddenly saw a small boy.
He requested him to hold the Shivalinga while he offer prayers to Lord Shiva
He asked him to hold it in his hands till he came back from his prayers,
and not to place it down on the ground,
and handed over the Shivalinga to the boy
Ravana was deeply observing his prayers.
Oh Lord...
Please....come quickly.
I have to go home.
Please come quickly.
This is very heavy
Ravana was deeply immersed in his prayers,
and did not listen to the boy's words.
Oh Lord! I can't hold this.
This Shivalinga is very heavy
and my hands are aching.
I have to go home, come quick.
Wait... Wait... I am coming immediately.
Wait there...
Don't place the Linga on the ground
No my lord,
I can not bear the weight of this anymore.
I'm going to put it down
Ravana stopped his prayers with the fear of the Linga being on the ground.
He ran towards the boy
But ALAS!
He had placed the Linga on the ground before Ravana could reach him.
You foolish boy....
What have you done?
I told you not to place the linga on the ground.
Even though you have placed it.
Do you know what is this?
How much valuable it is to me?
Do you know little boy...
how much a penance I have performed to obtain this linga?
I will punish you for this.
Haaaaahahahah...
Ravana, do you think I don't know anything?
I know very well that this is the powerful Aathmalinga,
I know how much penance you have performed to obtain this Aatmalinga
And I also know that you will destroy this world...
if you take it with you to Lanka
I wanted to save this world from you.
That's why I did this.
Ravana understood that this was Ganesh'a plan
to prevent him from taking the Aathmalinga to Lanka
He stood worried at the loss of the Linga
The Devas and Rishis poured flowers on Lord Ganesha for saving them.
The place where the Aatmalinga was placed came to called as Gokarna.
The lord here is known as Mahabaleshwara.
Lord Ganesha was blessed for saving this world by lord Brahma.
He was also blessed by lord Vishnu,
Lord Shiva and goddess Parvathy