Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 28
उद्दंडैश्चापि शेहुंडैरेरंडैर्गुडपुष्पकैः । बकुलैस्तिलकैश्चैव तिलकांकितमस्तकम्
uddaṃḍaiścāpi śehuṃḍaireraṃḍairguḍapuṣpakaiḥ | bakulaistilakaiścaiva tilakāṃkitamastakam
ಉದ್ದಂಡ, ಶೇಹುಂಡ, ಎರಂಡ, ಗುಡಪುಷ್ಪಕ; ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಬಕುಲ ಮತ್ತು ತಿಲಕ ವೃಕ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಆ ಪ್ರದೇಶವು ಭೂಮಿಯ ನಲೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಶುಭ ತಿಲಕ ಅಂಕಿತವಾದಂತೆ—ಧರೆಯೇ ಅಭಿಷಿಕ್ತವಾದಂತೆ ತೋರ್ಪಟ್ಟಿತು।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis
Scene: A personified landscape whose ‘forehead’ is adorned with tilaka-like trees—bakula and tilaka—amid uddaṃḍa plants, śehuṃḍa, castor, and guḍapuṣpaka; the holy ground appears ritually marked and auspicious.
FAQs
Kāśī is intrinsically consecrated—its very terrain is imagined as bearing auspicious marks like a devotee.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), described as a sanctified kṣetra adorned like a worshipper.
No explicit prescription; the verse alludes to tilaka as a symbol of sanctity and devotion.