Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 49
भविष्यंति नरास्ते ये कारयंति रथोत्सवम् । गंगादिसर्वतीर्थेषु यत्फलं कीर्तितं बुधैः
bhaviṣyaṃti narāste ye kārayaṃti rathotsavam | gaṃgādisarvatīrtheṣu yatphalaṃ kīrtitaṃ budhaiḥ
જે પુરુષો રથોત્સવનું આયોજન અને પ્રાયોજન કરાવે છે, તેઓ ગંગા આદિ સર્વ તીર્થોમાં સ્નાન-પૂજનથી જે ફળ બુદ્ધિમાનો કહે છે, તે જ ફળ પ્રાપ્ત કરે છે।
Narrator
Type: kshetra
Scene: A grand temple chariot festival: the deity on a richly canopied ratha, priests offering ārati, devotees pulling ropes, banners flying; the Gaṅgā and other tīrthas symbolically present as personified rivers offering homage, indicating ‘all-tīrtha fruit’.
FAQs
Supporting public dharma (festival organization) is treated as equivalent to extensive pilgrimage, compressing ‘sarva-tīrtha’ merit into one act of service.
Gaṅgā is cited as the foremost example among all tīrthas, as a benchmark for the festival’s merit.
To arrange/sponsor (kārayanti) the rathotsava as a meritorious religious service.