Puranas and epics contain stories based on history. However, major portions of these are because of the creative ability of the authors/poets. The main purpose of the puranas is to create an atmosphere where people realize how God has helped in uplifting the humanity.

There are eighteen puranas generally accepted. They are:-
1. Agnipurana,
2. Bhaagavatha purana,
3. Bhavishya purana,
4. Brahma purana,
5. Bramaanda purana,
6. Brahmavaivartha purana,
7. Garuda purana,
8. Koorma purana,
9. Linga purana,
10. MaarkanDeya purana,
11. Matsya purana,
12. Naaradeeya purana,
13. Padma purana,
14. Skaandapurana,
15. Vaamanapurana,
16. Varaaha purana,
17. Vaayu purana and
18. Vishnu purana.

The Brahmapurana, Brahmaand purana, Brahma vaivartapurana, Markandeya purana, Bhavishya purana and Vaamana purana are prominently Rajasika and dedicated to Brahma. Those which are predominantly saatvika (Sattvaguna pradhaana) are dedicated to Vishnu. They are: - Vishnu purana, Bhaagavatha purana, Naaradeeya purana, Garudapurana, Padmapurana and Varaaha purana. The other six are dedicated to Shiva.

We may now see a gist of the contents of these puranas one by one. Then we may discuss on the antiquity of the puranas, their general characteristics, their evolution and growth, the recurrent topics in them, their ethics etc. After this, we may proceed to discuss the upa puranas (which are also 18 in number).



AGNIPURANA:
Agni told this to Vasishta. It contains descriptions of Rama and Krishna (Ramayana and Mahabharata) in addition to details about the other avatharas of Vishnu. It also gives rules of worship of various deities, installation of idols in temples, Jyotishya, Architecture, medicine human physiology and various other such subjects.

BHAGAVATHA PURANA:-
SRIMADBHAGAVATHA is the most well known of the puranas. Sage Shuka tells the story of Krishna to king Pareekshit. Although it contains stories of the other avatharas of Vishnu, the emphasis is on the life of Krishna.
It explains the cosmic form of God and how the universe is created; the story of Jaya and Vijaya and how they had to take three janmas as Hiranyakashipu- Hiranyaaksha etc., the story of Prahlada’s devotion, Story of Kapila, Daksha yajna and its destruction by Rudra, stories of Dhruva, Jadabharatha etc., Stories of Gangaavatharana, Tripura samhaara, samudra mathana etc.
Krishnaavathaara details are found in the tenth chapter and the eleventh contains the famous Uddhavageetha. There is a vivid description of the present Kaliyuga.
There are a number of commentaries on this Purana and is considered the most popular among all the puranas.

BHAVISHYA PURANA:-
Some scholars consider the second part of this purana as an independent purana and call it the Bhavishyottara purana.
Among the several topics dealt with in this purana mention could be made of the shodasha samskaaras, rules for the study of Vedas, Vrathas and kaamya karmas, varnaashrama dharma, worship of Soorya and snakes, creation of the earth and the world, etc. There is a description of the good conduct one must emulate.
This purana is considered as a pointer and indication of the future and so, it is called the Bhavishya purana.