c. 300 CE – 1000 CE, Sanskrit
The Eighteen Maha Puranas
Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Brahma and the ages of the world
An eighteen-book library, not one text — the Vishnu, Shiva, Markandeya, Devi Bhagavata and fourteen more — holding cosmology, genealogy, pilgrimage lore and devotional story in five recurring themes: creation, dissolution, the ages, the lineages of gods and kings, and the deeds of each Purana's chosen deity.
Key episodes
Vishnu Purana
Genealogies of gods, sages and kings frame the ten avatars of Vishnu, from Matsya the fish to Kalki still to come, each descending to restore dharma when it falls too far.
Shiva & Linga Purana
Shiva's cosmology and his household on Kailasha — Parvati, Ganesha, Kartikeya — are set out alongside the practice of lingam worship observed in temples from Kedarnath to Rameswaram.
Devi Bhagavata Purana
The Goddess is described as supreme in her own right, not consort to another god — the source text behind the fifty-one Shakti Peethas and much of the Navratri and Durga Puja tradition.