Gokarna bay, Trincomalee

The Trincomalee Harbor, a circular natural harbor which the temple crowns towards the north, is referred to as Ko-kannam or "Lord's Cheek", alluding to the cheek shape of Shiva's bull Nandi. The Sanskrit equivalent of the port town's harbor bay is Go-Karna, meaning "Cow's Ear" or Gokarna Pattana and the deity's name Gokarneshwara or Go-Natha in Sanskrit. Pathmanathan offers the etymological link THiru-Gokarna-Malai or Tiru-Gona-Mala based on his connection.



The ethnographer Megasthenes writing his Indica from 350-290 BCE, describes the island as being divided by a long river, productive of a large number of gold and pearls in one half and that the inhabitants of this country are called Paleogoni, meaning Old Goni in Tamil and Greek, who Pliny adds worshiped Hercules and  Dionysus9Bacchus) like the Pandyans of Tamilakam. The Vayu Purana, written in 300 CE specifically mentions the tallest mountain peak of the great gold and silver rich mountain range Malaya on the island,and that "to the east of this island at the shore of the sea lies a great Siva temple in a holy place called Gokarna".

The bay is also referred to as Gokarnna according to a Sanskrit inscription in Grantha script excavated on a doorjamb at the Hindu temple dated to Tamil New Years Day 1223 CE. Gokarna is also a place name in Karnartaka, India, klinga, Tamil Nadu and Nepal all associated Bhadrakali Amman Temple of Trincomalee, significantly expanded by Rajendra Chola 1, stands on Konesar Road before the entrance to Swami Rock.