Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 54
त्रिंशत्कल्पैः स्मृतो मासो वर्षं द्वादशभिस्तु तैः । अनेन वर्षमानेन तदा ब्रह्माऽष्टवार्षिकः । आनीतः सोमराजेन सोमनाथः प्रतिष्ठितः
triṃśatkalpaiḥ smṛto māso varṣaṃ dvādaśabhistu taiḥ | anena varṣamānena tadā brahmā'ṣṭavārṣikaḥ | ānītaḥ somarājena somanāthaḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ
A “month” is remembered as consisting of thirty kalpas, and a “year” of twelve such (months). By this measure of years, at that time Brahmā was eight years old; and Somarāja brought (the Lord) and established Somnātha at Prabhāsa.
Skanda (deduced; Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa māhātmya narration)
Tirtha: Somnātha at Prabhāsa
Type: kshetra
Scene: Somarāja (Moon-god) in a radiant chariot carrying a sacred liṅga or leading a procession to the seashore shrine; Brahmā as a youthful figure in the background marking cosmic ‘eight years’; Somnātha temple being established with Vedic rites.
FAQs
Prabhāsa-Somnātha is portrayed as a shrine grounded in cosmic time: the tīrtha’s sanctity is as ancient and authoritative as creation’s own measures.
Somnātha at Prabhāsa Kṣetra (Saurāṣṭra/Gujarat) is explicitly mentioned as established by Somarāja.
No explicit ritual is prescribed here; it records the consecration (pratiṣṭhā) of Somnātha and the cosmic chronology framing it.