Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 16
प्रत्यब्दं निर्मलानि स्युस्तीर्थराज समागमात् । प्रयागश्चापि तीर्थेंद्रः सर्वतीर्थार्पितं मलम्
pratyabdaṃ nirmalāni syustīrtharāja samāgamāt | prayāgaścāpi tīrtheṃdraḥ sarvatīrthārpitaṃ malam
தீர்த்தராஜனின் சங்கமத்தால் அவை ஆண்டுதோறும் நிர்மலமடைகின்றன. மேலும் தீர்த்தங்களில் தலைவனான பிரயாகம், எல்லாத் தீர்த்தங்களும் ஒப்படைக்கும் மாசு-கல்மஷத்தைத் தானே ஏற்றுக்கொள்கிறது.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa typically Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Prayāga (Tīrtharāja)
Type: sangam
Scene: Personified tīrthas arrive as radiant sages/deities to Prayāga, offering their ‘mala’ like dark smoke dissolving into the luminous confluence; Prayāga stands enthroned as Tīrtharāja.
FAQs
Holiness is portrayed as dynamic and relational: Prayāga is the supreme purifier, renewing other tīrthas and bearing away accumulated defilements.
Prayāga, explicitly titled Tīrtharāja and Tīrthendra.
An annual cycle of tīrtha-merit is implied, reinforcing yearly pilgrimage and Māhātmya-based observances centered on Prayāga.