Ravana and atma linga

In treta yug , demon/ asur king ravan reached Kailash and started performing rigorous practices to get the "Atma Linga" from Lord Shiva, as his mother  expressed a keen desire to worship the Atma linga of Lord Shiva.
After a long practices and rituals performed by the Ravana, Lord Shiva gave the "Atma linga" to Ravana as a boon and instructed Ravana to carry it home by walking, and instructed hin that he should never place it on the earth even for a short while failing which the linga would get eternally embedded at the place were he broke his commands.
 Lord Vishnu devised a plan to install the Linga somewhere and he thought that Lord Ganapati was alone capable of doing it, he along with all the gods pleased Ganapati to execute the plan. Lord Ganapati accepts and reaches Gokarna as a Brahmin boy.
As Ravana was coming near Gokarna. Lord Vishnu who had known well that Ravana was punctual in performing his periodical rites (Sandyavandhana), hides sun with his Sudarshana Chakra (Wheel). Thinking that it was time to perform the evening rites, Ravana finds a Brahmin boy and asked him to hold the Atma linga in his hand till he came back after finishing the rites.
Lord Ganapathi agreed to hold the linga on one condition that he would do so till he would be able to bear the weight of Linga and that thereafter he would call Ravana three times and if failed to come to him by then he would place the linga on the earth.
Lord Ganapathi calls Ravana three times when he was performing his rites and places the linga on the earth and he vanished. The Atma linga at once got firmly entrenched in the earth. Ravana learned that he had been tricked by the Gods.
The depressed demon king Ravana was deeply agitated and tried to pull up the linga, but the linga did not budge a little. It resulted in his throwing the coverings of the Linga to Dhareshwar, Gunavanteshwara, Murdeshwar and Shejjeshwar temples. Ravana was unable to lift the Linga from the ground again and called shiva linga as Mahabala (you are too strong). And ever since the Linga illustrious as Mahabaleshwara.
Lord Shiva learnt all these from Vayu deva (Wind god), and came on to Earth with Godess Parvathi devi and His train of Gods, He visited these five places which had now taken into five forms. He acknowledged that these five places would be His "Pancha kshetras" (Five Holy Places).