TAMASIKA PURANAS THAT GLORIFY THE LORD SIVA

Siva, Agni, Linga, Skanda, Matsya and Kurma Puranas which expound the glory of Siva are called Tamaisakpuranas.

The Shiva Purana is one of eighteen major texts of the Purana genre of Sanskrit texts in Hinduism, and part of the Shaivism literature corpus.  It primarily revolves around the Hindu God Shiva and Goddess Parvati, but references and reveres all gods.

The Shiva Purana asserts that it once consisted of 100,000 verses set out in twelve Samhitas (Books), however the Purana adds that it was abridged by Sage Vyasa before being taught to Romaharshana.  The surviving manuscripts exist in many different versions and content, with one major version with seven books (traced to South India), another with six books, while the third version traced to the medieval Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent with no books but two large sections called Purva-Khanda (Previous Section) and Uttara-Khanda (Later Section). The two versions that include books, title some of the books same and others differently. The Shiva Purana, like other Puranas in Hindu literature, was likely a living text, which was routinely edited, recast and revised over a long period of time. The oldest manuscript of surviving texts was likely composed, estimates Klaus Klostermaier, around 10th- to 11th-century CE. Some chapters of currently surviving Shiva Purana manuscripts were likely composed after the 14th-century.

The Shiva Purana contains chapters with Shiva-centered cosmology, mythology, relationship between Gods, ethics, yoga, tirtha (pilgrimage) sites, bhakti, rivers and geography, and other topics. The text is an important source of historic information on different types and theology behind Shaivism in early 2nd-millennium CE. The oldest surviving chapters of the Shiva Purana have significant Advaita Vedanta philosophy, which is mixed in with theistic elements of bhakti.

The Agni Purana, (Sanskrit: अग्नि पुराण, Agni Purāṇa) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. The text is variously classified as a Purana related to Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism, but also considered as a text that covers them all impartially without leaning towards a particular theology.

The text exists in numerous versions, some very different from others. The published manuscripts are divided into 382 or 383 chapters, containing between 12,000 and 15,000 verses. The chapters of the text were likely composed in different centuries, with earliest version probably after the 7th-century, but before the 11th century because the early 11th-century Persian scholar Al-Biruni acknowledged its existence in his memoir on India.  The youngest layer of the text in the Agni Purana may be from the 17th century.

The published manuscripts are divided into 382 or 383 chapters, and ranging between 12,000 and 15,000 verses. Many subjects it covers are in specific chapters, but states Rocher, these "succeed one another without the slightest connection or transition". In other cases, such as its discussion of iconography, the verses are found in many sections of the Agni Purana.

The Linga Purana (लिङ्गपुराण, IAST: Liṅga-purāṇa) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, and a Shaivism text of Hinduism. The text's title Linga refers to the iconographical symbol for Shiva.

The author(s) and date of the Linga Purana are unknown, and estimates place the original text to have been composed between the 5th-10th century CE. The text exists in many versions and was likely revised over time and expanded. The extant text is structured into two parts, with a cumulative total of 163 chapters.

The text presents cosmology, mythology, seasons, festivals, geography, a tour guide for pilgrimage (Tirtha), a manual for the design and consecration of the Linga and Nandi, stotras, the importance of these icons, a description of Yoga with claims of its various benefits.

The Linga Purana survives in many versions, consisting of two parts – the Purva-bhaga (older part, sometimes called Purvardha) with 108 chapters and Uttara-bhaga (later part, sometimes called Uttarardha) with 55 chapters.  However, the manuscripts of the text assert in verse 2.55.37 that the Uttara-bhaga only has 46 chapters, suggesting that the text was expanded over time.  Some scholars suggest that the entire Uttara-bhaga may be a later insertion or attachment to the older part.

 

The Skanda Purana (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest Mukyapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumara literature,  titled after Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parvati, who is also known as Murugan.  While the text is named after Skanda, he does not feature either more or less prominently in this text than in other Shiva-related Puranas. The text has been an important historical record and influence on the Hindu traditions related to the war-god Skanda.

The Matsya Purana (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism.  The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the half-human and half-fish avatar of Vishnu.  However, the text has been called by the 19th-century Sanskrit scholar Horace Hayman Wilson, "although a Shaivism (Shiva-related) work, it is not exclusively so"; the text has also been referred to one that simultaneously praises various Hindu gods and goddesses.

The Matsya Purana is also notable for being encyclopedic in the topics it covers.  Along with the five topics the text defines a Purana to be, it includes mythology, a guide for building art work such as paintings and sculpture, features and design guidelines for temples, objects and house architecture (Vastu-shastra), various types of Yoga, duties and ethics (Dharma) with multiple chapters on the value of Dāna (charity), both Shiva and Vishnu related festivals, geography particularly around the Narmada river, pilgrimage, duties of a king and good government and other topics.

The Kurma Purana (IAST: Kūrma Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, and a medieval era Vaishnavism text of Hinduism.  The text is named after the tortoise avatar of Vishnu.

 

The Kurma Purana exists in many versions, but all of them consist of two parts - the Purva-vibhaga (older part) and Upari-vibhaga (upper part).  The number of chapters vary with the manuscripts.  The critical edition of the different manuscripts contains fifty one chapters in Purva-vibhaga and forty four in Upari-vibhaga.