Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि कुमारेश्वरमुत्तमम् । मार्कण्डेश्वरतो देवि दक्षिणे नातिदूरतः । धनुर्विंशतिभिस्तत्र स्थितं स्वामिप्रतिष्ठितम्
īśvara uvāca | tato gacchenmahādevi kumāreśvaramuttamam | mārkaṇḍeśvarato devi dakṣiṇe nātidūrataḥ | dhanurviṃśatibhistatra sthitaṃ svāmipratiṣṭhitam
ईश्वर म्हणाले—त्यानंतर, हे महादेवी, उत्तम कुमारेश्वराकडे जावे. हे देवी, मार्कण्डेश्वराच्या दक्षिणेस फार दूर नाही—वीस धनुष्य अंतरावर—तेथे स्वामीने प्रतिष्ठापित केलेले (लिंग) स्थित आहे।
Īśvara (Śiva)
Tirtha: Kumāreśvara
Type: kshetra
Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)
Scene: Śiva instructs Devī to proceed to Kumāreśvara: a southern path from Mārkaṇḍeśvara marked by flags and pilgrims; the Kumāreśvara shrine appears as an ‘uttama’ liṅga, said to be installed by the Lord himself.
FAQs
Pilgrimage is taught as a guided sacred itinerary: moving from shrine to shrine within the kṣetra is itself a dharmic practice.
Kumāreśvara, located south of Mārkaṇḍeśvara in Prabhāsa-kṣetra.
The directive is to go (gacchet) to Kumāreśvara; specific rites are not listed in this verse.