The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes The Greatness of Shikhitirtha (shikhi-tirtha) which is chapter 202 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. This is the two hundred second chapter of the Reva-khanda of the Avantya-khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 202 - The Greatness of Śikhitīrtha (śikhi-tīrtha)
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
1-7. Next to it a person should go to another excellent holy spot called Śikhitīrtha. It is the most important of all the Tīrthas. It has five excellent shrines.
For the sake of his flames (and sparks) Havyavāhana (Fire-god) performed a penance and got it. Thereby he came to be called Śikhin (‘one having flame’). He installed Śiva named Śikhā.
On the first lunar day in the bright half of Aśvayuja, O king, a person should go to the excellent Tīrtha and bathe in the waters of Narmadā. With gingelly seeds and water, he should offer libation to Devas, sages and Pitṛs as well as others.
After propitiating Hutāśana (Fire-god), he should make a gift of gold to a Brāhmaṇa. Thereafter, he should adore Śiva with scented garlands and incense.
After worshipping Maheśvara with this procedure in the Śikhitīrtha, the devotee becomes eligible to go to Rudraloka. Surrounded by groups of celestial women and sung about by Gandharvas, he travels by an aerial chariot having the lustre of the Sun. His enemies get destroyed and he becomes brilliant, if he is reborn on the earth.