The Western Ghats in Karnataka is a place of Heaven. Yana is a village located in forests of the Kumta, Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India which is known for the unusual karst rock formations, in the Sahyadri mountain range of the Western Ghats. If you are a serious traveler or a nature enthusiast, then you must visit this place at least once in your life and enjoy the beauty of Nature and amazing Rock caves.
Yana is mesmerizing and seems like the location of the Hollywood movie, Game of Thrones, which is famous for these two massive rock outcrops known as the Bhairaveshwara Shikhara and the Mohini Shikhara (“Shikhara” means “hill”). The huge rocks are composed of solid black, crystalline Karst limestone. Bhairaveshwara Shikhara is 120 meters (390 ft) in height, while the Mohini Shikhara, which is smaller, is 90 meters (300 ft) in height. Yana is also well known as a pilgrimage center because of the cave temple below the Bhairaveshwara Shikhara where a Swayambhu (“self-manifested”, or “that which is created by its own accord”) linga has been formed. Water drips from the roof over the linga, adding to the sanctity of the place.
“Hard to believe that a place like Yana exists in India. Such views can be seen only in Hollywood movies with special effects like Jurassic Park or Harry Potter. Yana is present in a dense forest. We visited in summers in the month of March still found the jungle to be quite fresh as if it’s the rainy season with different shades of green”, describes Mr. Arpit, an ardent traveler from Mumbai when he finished his holiday in Karnataka recently.
Yana is situated about 60 kilometers from Karwar port, 40 kilometers from Sirsi, and 31 kilometers from Kumta. The two unique rock outcrops near the village are a tourist attraction and easily approachable by a small trek through 500 meters of thick forests from the nearest road head. Roads from Sirsi/Gokarna are very good and we can reach almost near to this by Car or Bike. After that need to walk around half a kilometer to reach the Rock caves. This half KM journey is so amazing!!!!!
The road is quite good for Yana from Gokarna. Google maps can easily get you to this place. Once you park your car, it’s a 5-10mins simple trek. Shops are present as well as clean toilets are available near the car park as well as Yana temple.
You have to visit the temple below Yana caves and then take a pradakshina inside the caves which are around the temple. During annual festivities held here during the Shivaratri, a car festival is also held. The place and surrounding hillocks are also known for the evergreen scenic forest.
https://tourismindiaonline.com/making-india-the-adventure-capital-of-the-world/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK6NHiM6FhY
