Skandapurana 16.123

Īśvara said: / Then one should go, O great goddess, to excellent Rāvaṇeśvara, / situated sixteen bow-lengths to the south-southwest from there,

established by the ten-faced one, destroying all sins. / Rāvaṇa, descendant of Pulastya, O goddess, was a most cruel rākṣasa.

Desiring victory over the three worlds, he wandered about in the Puṣpaka. / Then at a certain time, his Puṣpaka aerial chariot,

as it was proceeding along the path of the sky, suddenly became motionless. / Seeing the Puṣpaka brought to a standstill, Rāvaṇa was filled with astonishment.

He dispatched Prahasta: 'What is this? Go to the ground; / for its motion is unimpeded in the three worlds with all that moves and is still!'

"Why then has my Puṣpaka aerial chariot come to a halt?" / Then, O Goddess, he swiftly descended to the surface of the earth. (6)

He beheld the Lord of the God of gods, the glorious, supremely splendid Someśa, / being praised by hosts of gods in hundreds and thousands. (7)

Having seen Him, Prahasta related everything in detail to the king of the rākṣasas, O beloved, / what he had witnessed in the midst of the sacred field. (8)

Prahasta said: / O lord of the rākṣasas, O mighty-armed master! This is Śiva's own sacred field, / known as Prabhāsa, frequented by gaṇas and gandharvas. (9)

There Śaṃkara Himself, the divine Someśvara, resides, / worshipped on all sides by water-feeders, air-feeders, / tooth-mortar ascetics, and the Vālakhilya seers. (10)

By the power of that God, this Puṣpaka does not move. / That God is indeed not to be transgressed, who cannot be crossed over even by gods and asuras. (11)

Īśvara said: / Hearing those words of his, with eyes wide with wonder, / descending to the surface of the earth, he beheld Someśa. (12)

Endowed with supreme devotion, he worshipped [Him], O Queen of the gods, / with various gems, garments, perfumes, flowers, and unguents. (13)

Then, seeing Rāvaṇa, the lord of the rākṣasas, / the citizens fled in fear in all directions, O fair-hipped lady! (14)

Everything became empty [there] where the God resided. / At that very moment, a bodiless voice spoke: (15)

"O ten-necked, mighty-armed one! At this northern solstice, / during the pilgrimage-time of the God that destroys all sins, (16)

numerous people and twice-born brahmins have arrived from afar. / Terrified with fear of the rākṣasas, they are fleeing to the ten directions. (17)

O lord of the rākṣasas, do not be an obstacle to their pilgrimage out of [their] fear! / Whatever sin is committed in childhood, old age, or youth, / a mortal washes it all away upon seeing Lord Someśvara." (18)

Then that king of the rākṣasas, going to a solitary, deep cave, / installed a liṅga, endowed with supreme devotion. (19)

Then, devoted to it, the lord of the rākṣasas with all his followers, / intent on fasting, worshipped [it], O Queen of the gods. (20)

Before it he kept a night vigil with singing and instrumental music. / Then, at midnight, a bodiless voice spoke: (21)

"O ten-necked, mighty-armed one, I am well pleased with you, O sinless one! / By my grace, the three worlds will come under your control. / I will undoubtedly dwell here always present. (22)

And whatever men worship this liṅga with devotion, / they will be invincible to their enemies, O lord of the rākṣasas! (23)

They will attain supreme perfection by my grace, without a doubt." / Having spoken thus, O fair-hipped lady, the Bull-bannered Lord fell silent. (24)

Rāvaṇa too, highly pleased, worshipped Maheśvara again and again / and that liṅga, mounted the Puṣpaka, / and, desiring victory over the three worlds, went to his desired region. (25)

Thus ends the one hundred and twenty-third chapter, entitled "Description of the Māhātmya of Rāvaṇeśvara," in the first [part], the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, of the seventh section, the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses. (123)