Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 120
अष्टषष्टिषु तीर्थेषु गच्छन्स च सुरेश्वरः । हाटकेश्वरजे क्षेत्रे समायातः क्रमेण च
aṣṭaṣaṣṭiṣu tīrtheṣu gacchansa ca sureśvaraḥ | hāṭakeśvaraje kṣetre samāyātaḥ krameṇa ca
Tandis que le Seigneur des dieux parcourait soixante-huit tīrtha, il parvint en temps voulu au domaine sacré relevant de Hāṭakeśvara.
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator in Tīrthamāhātmya context)
Tirtha: Hāṭakeśvaraja-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: A group of sages / a leading ṛṣi (implied by later address to dvija-śreṣṭha)
Scene: Indra (sureśvara) traveling through a long chain of tīrthas, arriving at a Śiva-kṣetra marked by a liṅga shrine and sacred waters, with attendants and subtle signs of burdened guilt.
FAQs
Persistent pilgrimage across many tīrthas culminates in reaching a divinely charged kṣetra where grace ripens fully.
Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra is explicitly named as the destination reached after visiting sixty-eight tīrthas.
Tīrtha-yātrā undertaken systematically (krameṇa) across a traditional set of sacred sites.