The Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes Eminence of Gangadhara Tirtha which is chapter 61 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 sixty-first chapter of the Arbuda-khanda of the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 61 - Eminence of Gaṅgādhara Tīrtha
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Pulastya said:
1. Then go to the place of pilgrimage holding the clean water of Gaṅgā known as the place bearing Gaṅgā or Gaṅgādhara. Here, the king! Ganga has been held up before its descending down to the earth’s surface.
2. After invoking Gaṅgā, the God among gods, i.e., Śiva after assuming the stationary form of a mountain had held her forcibly under captivity which has already been narrated before.
3. Conforming to the ritual of taking a bath here with all sincerity and earnestness on the eighth day of Month accrues one that supreme and ultimate place which is even difficult for gods.