Puranas

(noun)

A vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly myths, legends, and other traditional lore.

Related Terms

Examples of Puranas in the following topics:

  • Nayak Painting

    • Episodes from Hindu Puranas, Sthala-puranas, and other religious texts were visualized and painted with the main figure or figures placed in the central section of the picture, surrounded by several subsidiary figures, themes, and subjects.

  • Painting in the Vijayanagar Empire

    • Other Sanskrit literary sources such as the Visnudharmottara Purana, Abhilasitarthacintamani, and Sivatatvaratnakara also highlight the objectives and principles of painting, methods of preparing pigments, brushes, qualifications of the chitrakar (the traditional community of painters), and the technique to be followed.

  • Painting Under the Sultanate of Delhi

    • The earliest dated example is an Aranyaka Parva of the Mahabharata (1516), and among the finest are series illustrating the Bhagavata-Purana and the Caurapañcashika of Bilhana.

  • Gupta and Post-Gupta

    • The earliest available Indian Epics, or Puranas, are also thought to have been written around this period.