Skandapurāṇa III presents a critical edition of the Vindhyavāsinī Cycle (Adhyāyas 34.1-61, 53-69) from the Skandapurāṇa, with an introduction and annotated English synopsis. The text edited in this volume provides the oldest full account of the myth of the goddess of the Vindhya mountains; it is one of the main sources of the Devīmāhātmya, the most famous scripture of the goddess worship in India, and as such indispensable for the study of the history of goddess worship. The introduction contains an examination into the...

Skandapurāṇa IIb presents a critical edition of Adhyāyas 31-52 from the Skandapurāṇa, with an introduction and English synopsis. The text edited in this volume includes central myths of early Śaivism, such as the destruction of Dakṣa's sacrifice and Śiva acquiring the bull for his vehicle. Also included is an extensive description of the thirteen hells (Naraka).

The World of the Skandapurāṇa explores the historical, religious and literary environment that gave rise to the composition and spread of this early Purana text devoted to Siva. It is argued that the text originated in circles of Pasupata ascetics and laymen, probably in Benares, in the second half of the 6th and first half of he 7th centuries. The book describes the political developments in Northern India after the fall of the Gupta Empire until the successor states which arose after the death of king Harsavardhana of Kanauj in the second half of the 7th century. The work...