The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.32.1

v2.c17.32.1

All the places named are still extant and form the boundary marks of the circuit which a pious pilgrim is expected to go round when visiting this holy spot. This circumambulation is called “going round of the city,” (*Kṣetra parikramaṇa*) and takes several days to accomplish. The *Ekāmra Purāṇa*, however, does not insist upon this large circuit; it assigns the inner circle formed by a radius of one mile round the Great Tower as the proper boundary of the circumambulation; but it recommends the operation to be repeated three times, and gives directions how it is to be performed, and what mantras should be repeated when starting on the journey.¹⁵ The religious merit of the operation is even greater than the performance of ten thousand horse sacrifices. All sins that might be contracted in other sacred places are wiped away by visiting Svarnakūṭa (Khaṇḍagiri), but what are contracted in the last-named place can be destroyed only by making the circumambulation of the sacred city.