Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 32
तेन तस्य हि जातानि शिरांसि सुबहून्यपि । एकपद्येन तेषां च स्रजं कृत्वा मनोहराम् । बबंध शंभुः शिरसि शिरोभूषणवत्कृतम्
tena tasya hi jātāni śirāṃsi subahūnyapi | ekapadyena teṣāṃ ca srajaṃ kṛtvā manoharām | babaṃdha śaṃbhuḥ śirasi śirobhūṣaṇavatkṛtam
അതുകൊണ്ട് അവനിൽ അനേകം ശിരസ്സുകൾ തന്നെ ഉദിച്ചു. ശംഭു അവയെ ഒരൊറ്റ മാലത്തണ്ടിൽ കോർത്ത് മനോഹരമായ സ്രജയായി തീർത്ത്, ശിരോഭൂഷണമെന്നപോലെ തന്റെ ശിരസ്സിൽ ബന്ധിച്ചു.
Lomaharṣaṇa Sūta (deduced: narrative voice)
Tirtha: Kedāra/Kedāranātha
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrim-audience/ṛṣi interlocutors (implied)
Scene: From the released amṛta/act, multiple heads manifest for Rāhu; Śambhu strings them on a single cord into a beautiful wreath and places it on His own head like a regal crown-ornament—terrible yet enchanting.
FAQs
Śiva transforms fearsome symbols into sacred ornaments, showing mastery over death and the power to sanctify even the terrifying.
Kedārakhaṇḍa’s Śaiva mahātmya context: the iconography supports the region’s devotion to Mahādeva as the supreme protector.
No ritual is prescribed; the verse explains a mythic origin and symbolism.