The Puranas (Sanskrit: “ancient”) are a vast genre of Hindu texts covering cosmology, genealogies, myths, pilgrimage, and devotion. There are 18 Mahapuranas (major Puranas) and 18 Upapuranas (minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses in total. They are traditionally attributed to Vyasa and are classified by the deity they emphasize—Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva. The table below lists the 18 Mahapuranas with their traditional verse counts and brief descriptions.
| # | Maha Purana | Verses | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brahma | 10,000 | Sometimes also called Adi Purana, as many lists place it first among the eighteen. The text shares many passages with the Vishnu, Vayu, and Markandeya Puranas and with the Mahabharata. It includes mythology, theory of war, artwork in temples, and other cultural topics, and describes holy places in Odisha. Despite its name, it weaves themes of Vishnu and Shiva and has little focus on Brahma. |
| 2 | Padma | 55,000 | A large compilation of diverse topics. It describes cosmology, the world, and the nature of life from Vishnu’s perspective; festivals, numerous legends, and the geography of rivers and regions from northwest India to Bengal and the kingdom of Tripura. It includes a story of Rama and Sita that differs in some ways from the epic Ramayana, and like the Skanda Purana it serves as a detailed treatise on travel and pilgrimage centres in India. |
| 3 | Vishnu | 23,000 | One of the most studied and circulated Puranas. It contains detailed genealogies of various dynasties and is a central Vaishnava text focused on Vishnu. The churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan in Sanskrit) is perhaps one of the best-known episodes in Indian mythology, appearing in several texts such as the Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana. The Vishnu Purana presents cosmology, creation, and the cycles of time, and has been influential in shaping Vaishnava belief and practice. |
| 4 | Shiva | 24,000 | The Shiva Purana is a central text of Shaivism. It centres on Shiva and Parvati but references and reveres all gods and goddesses. Tradition holds that it once consisted of 100,000 verses set out in twelve samhitas (books) and was abridged by the sage Vyasa before being taught to Romaharshana. The story of Ganesha's birth is primarily found in the Shiva Purana, specifically in the Rudra Samhita (Kumara Khanda). It covers Shiva's glory, myths, worship, and pilgrimage sites sacred to Shiva. |
| 5 | Bhagavata | 18,000 | Also called Srimad Bhagavatam. The most studied and popular of the Puranas, it tells of Vishnu's avatars and is a foundational text of Vaishnavism. It was highly influential during the Bhakti movement and continues to shape devotion to Krishna and Vishnu. It contains genealogical details of dynasties and explores themes of devotion, divine grace, and liberation. The churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan in Sanskrit) is perhaps one of the best-known episodes in Indian mythology, appearing in several texts such as the Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana. |
| 6 | Narada (Naradiya) | 25,000 | Also called Naradiya Purana. It discusses the four Vedas and the six Vedangas. From chapters 92 to 109 it dedicates one chapter each to summarising the other seventeen Mahapuranas and itself. It lists major rivers of India and places of pilgrimage, with a short tour guide for each, and includes discussion of various philosophies, soteriology, planets, astronomy, myths, and the characteristics of major deities including Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Krishna, Rama, and Lakshmi. |
| 7 | Markandeya | 9,000 | Named after the sage Markandeya, a student of Brahma. It describes the Vindhya Range and western India and was probably composed in the valleys of the Narmada and Tapti rivers, in Maharashtra and Gujarat. It contains chapters on dharma and on the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The Purana includes the Devi Mahatmyam (also known as the Durga Saptashati), a central text of Shaktism that glorifies the Goddess as the supreme power. |
| 8 | Agni | 15,400 | Contains encyclopedic information. It includes the geography of Mithila (Bihar and neighbouring regions), cultural history, politics, education, iconography, taxation, the organisation of the army, theories on the proper causes for war, diplomacy, local laws, building and public projects, water distribution, trees and plants, medicine, Vastu Shastra (architecture), gemology, grammar, metrics, poetry, food, rituals, and numerous other topics. It is one of the most wide-ranging of the Puranas in subject matter. |
| 9 | Bhavishya | 14,500 | “Future” Purana; prophecy sections in extant manuscripts are largely later additions and not an integral part of the original Bhavishya Purana. The older portions of the surviving text are partly borrowed from other Indian works such as the Brihat Samhita and the Shamba Purana. The text has been subject to significant revision over time. |
| 10 | Brahmavaivarta | 18,000 | Narrated by Savarni to Narada, it centres on the greatness of Krishna and Radha. It is notable for asserting that Krishna is the supreme reality and that the gods Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma are incarnations or manifestations of him. The story of Brahma and the Varaha (boar) incarnation is repeatedly told. It mentions geography and rivers from the Ganga to the Kaveri and is important in the Krishna bhakti tradition. |
| 11 | Linga | 11,000 | Discusses the lingam as the symbol of Shiva and the origin of the universe according to Shaivism. It contains many stories of the lingam, including the episode in which the Agni Lingam resolves a dispute between Vishnu and Brahma when they seek to find Shiva's beginning and end. It expounds Shaiva theology, worship, and the significance of the lingam in ritual and devotion. |
| 12 | Varaha | 24,000 | Primarily a Vishnu-oriented worship manual, with large mahatmya sections that serve as travel guides to sacred places. It focuses on Varaha as an incarnation of Narayana (Vishnu) and includes detailed mahatmyas of Mathura and Nepal. Although the presentation centres on Varaha, it rarely uses the names Krishna or Vasudeva; many narratives also involve Shiva and Durga, reflecting the Puranic tendency to weave together the stories of multiple deities. |
| 13 | Skanda | 81,100 | Named after Skanda (Kartikeya), the son of Shiva and Parvati and brother of Ganesha. The Skanda Purana is the longest of the Mahapuranas. It is an extraordinarily detailed pilgrimage guide, containing the geographical locations of pilgrimage centres in India along with related legends, parables, hymns, and stories. The mythological portions weave together the stories of Shiva, Vishnu, Parvati, Lakshmi, Rama, Krishna, Sita, Rukmini, and other major deities. Many untraced quotes in later literature are attributed to this text. |
| 14 | Vamana | 10,000 | Describes North India, particularly the Himalayan foothills region. It is associated with the Vamana (dwarf) avatar of Vishnu, who restored the cosmic balance by subduing the asura king Bali. The text includes mythology, pilgrimage sites, and devotional material related to Vamana and Vishnu. |
| 15 | Kurma | 17,000 | Contains a combination of Vishnu- and Shiva-related legends, mythology, pilgrimage (tirtha), and theology. It is named after the Kurma (tortoise) avatar of Vishnu, who supported Mount Mandara during the churning of the ocean. The text weaves together Vaishnava and Shaiva themes and discusses sacred places and the nature of the divine. |
| 16 | Matsya | 14,000 | An encyclopedic Purana. It narrates the story of Matsya, the first of the ten major avatars of Vishnu, who saved the Vedas and the seeds of life during a great deluge. It includes legends about Brahma and Saraswati and contains genealogical details of various dynasties. Likely composed in western India by people familiar with the geography of the Narmada river, it covers a wide range of topics in the manner of the Agni and Garuda Puranas. |
| 17 | Garuda | 19,000 | An encyclopedic Purana. Many chapters take the form of a dialogue between Vishnu and his mount, the bird Garuda. It describes cosmology and the relationship between the gods; discusses ethics, crime, good and evil, and various schools of Hindu philosophy; and explores the theory of yoga and of heaven and hell, karma, and rebirth. It includes Upanishadic-style discussion of self-knowledge as a means to moksha. Further subjects include rivers, the geography of Bharat (India) and other lands, minerals, gemology, disease and medicine, the Hindu calendar, astronomy, astrology, architecture, temple design, rites of passage, virtues such as compassion and charity, statecraft, the duties of a king, grammar, and literature. The final chapters discuss the practice of yoga (including Samkhya and Advaita perspectives) and the benefits of self-knowledge. |
| 18 | Brahmanda | 12,000 | One of the earlier composed Puranas. It contains the Lalita Sahasranamam, a celebrated hymn of a thousand names of the Goddess Lalita (Devi). The text includes law codes, systems of governance and administration, diplomacy, trade, and ethics. Old manuscripts of the Brahmanda Purana have been found in the Hindu literature collections of Bali, Indonesia, attesting to its spread across the Indian cultural sphere. It also presents cosmology and the cycles of creation. |
Reference: Puranas – Wikipedia