Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 28
उद्दंडैश्चापि शेहुंडैरेरंडैर्गुडपुष्पकैः । बकुलैस्तिलकैश्चैव तिलकांकितमस्तकम्
uddaṃḍaiścāpi śehuṃḍaireraṃḍairguḍapuṣpakaiḥ | bakulaistilakaiścaiva tilakāṃkitamastakam
उद्दंड, शेहुंड, एरंड व गुडपुष्पक; तसेच बकुळ व तिळक वृक्षांनी तो प्रदेश जणू भूमीच्या मस्तकावर शुभ तिळक उमटल्यासारखा—धरा अभिषिक्त झाल्यासारखा भासत होता।
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.