The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes Caturashiti-linga-mahatmya which is section 2 of the English translation of the Skanda Purana, the largest of the eighteen Mahapuranas, preserving the ancient Indian society and Hindu traditions in an encyclopedic format, detailling on topics such as dharma (virtous lifestyle), cosmogony (creation of the universe), mythology (itihasa), genealogy (vamsha) etc.
Section 2 - Caturaśīti-liṅga-māhātmya
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The Caturaśītiliṅgamāhātmya (Caturaśīti-liṅga-māhātmya) has 84 chapters and contains glorification of eighty-four liṅga shrines in Avantī.
This Section deals with the eighty-four temples which existed at the time of this Purāṇa in Mahākālavana area. Thus, in a way, it is a complement to the first Section called Āvantya-kṣetra-māhātmya. Here the author states the geographical location of every shrine, the name of the Śiva-Liṅga thereof and a legend to explain the name, ‘history’ and importance of that Liṅga. The author modifies a Purāṇic legend to suit his purpose and/or attributes a new legend with mythological names, thus giving them a semblance of a real Purāṇic story.
As this Section describes the Śiva shrines in Mahākālavana area, some duplication of the sacred places mentioned in the previous Section is inevitable. Hence we find the repetition of the legends of Agastyeśvara (chapter 1), Kuṭumbeśvara (chapter 14), Apsaraḥ Khaṇḍa (chapter 17), Piśācamocana (chapter 68), to mention a few.