Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 23
सदा मे निश्चला छाया लिंगस्यास्य भविष्यति । एकैव पृष्ठदेशस्था न दिक्संस्था भविष्यति
sadā me niścalā chāyā liṃgasyāsya bhaviṣyati | ekaiva pṛṣṭhadeśasthā na diksaṃsthā bhaviṣyati
എന്റെ ഈ ലിംഗത്തിന്റെ നിഴൽ എപ്പോഴും അചഞ്ചലമായിരിക്കും. അത് ഒരേ സ്ഥലത്ത്, അതിന്റെ പിന്നിൽ സ്ഥിരമായി നിലകൊള്ളും; ദിശകളനുസരിച്ച് മാറുകയില്ല.
Unspecified (contextually the deity/Maheśvara speaking within the narrative)
Type: temple
Listener: a king (and/or assembled brāhmaṇas)
Scene: A stone liṅga in an open courtyard; the sun’s position changes across the sky, yet the liṅga’s shadow remains fixed behind it, forming an uncanny, unwavering silhouette; devotees point in astonishment.
FAQs
Śiva’s presence in a tīrtha is shown through an enduring sign; the sacred is not governed by ordinary physical change.
The Acaleśvara-liṅga kṣetra (later described as near Camatkārapura) in Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya.
No explicit rite is prescribed here; the verse establishes a miraculous mark (the fixed shadow) as a sign of the kṣetra’s sanctity.