The Birth and Consecration of Skanda (Kartikeya) at Kurukshetra
चक्रतीर्थं सुचजक्राक्षं मकराश्रं गयाशिरः गणं पञ्चशिखं नाम ददौ कनखलः स्वकम्
cakratīrthaṃ sucajakrākṣaṃ makarāśraṃ gayāśiraḥ gaṇaṃ pañcaśikhaṃ nāma dadau kanakhalaḥ svakam
your permission—now
{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
It operates as a gazetteer-style register: the text groups multiple tīrthas and attributes their ‘bestowal/establishment’ to a named sacred locality (Kanakhala), thereby authorizing their sanctity and linking them into a pilgrimage circuit.
Here gaṇa most naturally means a ‘cluster/group’ of sites rather than Śiva’s attendants. The phrase reads as a named cluster—‘the gaṇa called Pañcaśikha’—consistent with tīrtha-listing style.
Purāṇic geography often preserves toponyms as meaningful compounds. Such names can encode local myths (e.g., an aquatic ‘makara’ association) or physical features (śiras = summit/headland), serving both mnemonic and sacralizing purposes.