Skanda Purana Pt. 3 (AITM Vol. 51): Ancient Indian Tradition And Mythology

The English translation of the Skanda Purana, the largest of the eighteen major puranas containing over 81,000 Sanskrit metrical verses. The earliest version of the Skanda Purana probably existed before the 5th century CE and thus preserves an enormous amount of history and information regarding Hindu tradition in an encyclopedic format.

Subjects covered by this Purana include cosmogony (creation of the universe), mythology (itihasa), genealogy (vamsha), dharma (virtuous lifestyle), festivals (yatra etc.), geography, gemology, etc. But another significant feature is the inclusion of a tremendous amount of pilgrimage guides (Tirtha Mahatmya).

The Skanda Purana is also spelled as Skandapurāṇa (स्कन्दपुराण) or Skanda-purāṇa (स्कन्द-पुराण). Skanda is the name of a son of Shiva and Parvati. He is also known as Kartikeya and Murugan.