Kedaramahatmya

[Paolo Magnone]

Dear prof. Brockington,

I am not aware of any KedAramAhAtmya being found in the VAyu PurANa; at any
rate, none is mentioned in the repertory of place-names in D. R. Patil's
_Cultural History from the VAyu PurANa_. On the other hand, a KedAra-khaNDa
is known to consist of the opening 35 adhyAyas of the MAhezvarakhaNDa (I)
of the Skanda PurANa. The section, however, cannot be considered a proper
tIrthamAhAtmya, being mainly concerned with extensive narrations of
well-known shaivite myths. A summary is available in M. Vallauri, "Sommari
dello Skanda PurANa. I. MAhezvarakhaNDa", _Giornale della Societ�
Asiatica Italiana_, III. 1 (1934), p. 5-51.

There are, of course, various KedAras besides the Himalayan one. References
to puranic passages relevant to each may be found in P. V. Kane, _History
of DharmazAstra_, vol. IV (List of tIrthas). Diana L. Eck, _Banaras City of
Light_ has a section (p. 136-145) on KAzI KedAra (which has its own
mAhAtmya).

Paolo Magnone


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Paolo Magnone
Prof. of Sanskrit Language and Literature
Catholic University of Milan
pmagnone at mi.unicatt.it

Jambudvipa - Indology and Sanskrit Studies: www.jambudvipa.net