Tirthas in the Kandula Purana

Summary

In Tirthas in the Kandula Purana, S. K. Dave examines a minor Gujarati Purana that incorporates local pilgrimage traditions into the wider Purana genre. Puranas mix legend and history and are compiled from tales, episodes and lore passed down through generationsfile:///home/oai/share/final_articles/kandula_purana_tirthas.pdf#:~:text=The%20Purdnas%20are%20sources%20of,of%20a%20particular%20family%20or. Gujarat produced regional Purana sections like the Nagarakhanda of the Skandapurana and the Dwarka Mahatmya, inspiring scholars to compose caste Puranas and Tirtha Mahatmyas that legitimised community identitiesfile:///home/oai/share/final_articles/kandula_purana_tirthas.pdf#:~:text=Aunarta,and%20the%20Dwarka%20Mahatmya%20mustfile:///home/oai/share/final_articles/kandula_purana_tirthas.pdf#:~:text=called%20Puranas%20of%20Gujarat%20were,of%20the%20castesto%20which%20they. Dave explains that such works imitate the structure of major Puranas, containing origin stories, genealogies, cosmology, ritual prescriptions and pilgrimage narrativesfile:///home/oai/share/final_articles/kandula_purana_tirthas.pdf#:~:text=Such%20Puranas%20do%20not%20satisfy,flut. The Kandula Purana, dedicated to the Kanduliya Brahmins and Kapola Vaisyas, consists of 1,404 verses divided into fourteen chaptersfile:///home/oai/share/final_articles/kandula_purana_tirthas.pdf#:~:text=The%20Kandula%20Purana%E2%80%9D%20is%20one,Kandalanagar. It recounts the caste’s origins, linking it to King Mandhata and the region of Panchala, and integrates local tirthas into mainstream mythologyfile:///home/oai/share/final_articles/kandula_purana_tirthas.pdf#:~:text=out%20but%20only%20one%20printed,ancient%20heritage%20of%20the%20Kanduliyas. Dave argues that regional Puranas like this demonstrate how communities used Purana writing to establish their religious identity and connect with pan‑Indian tradition.