Shiva Purana

One of the eighteen traditional puranas,
which were an important genre of smrti
texts and the repository of much of traditional Indian mythology. The smrtis,
or “remembered” texts, were a class of
literature, which, although deemed
important, were considered less authoritative than the shrutis or “heard” texts.
In brief, the shrutis included the Vedas,
the oldest and most authoritative Hindu
religious texts, whereas the smrtis
included the Mahabharata and the
Ramayana, the dharma literature, the
Bhagavad Gita, and the puranas. The
puranas are the collection of all types of
sacred lore, from mythic tales to ritual
instruction to exaltation of various
sacred sites (tirthas) and actions. Most
of the puranas stress the worship of
one deity as supreme over all others
and as this one’s name clearly shows
it is focused on the worship of Shiva.
The Shiva Purana is one of the
longer and larger puranas. It gives an
exhaustive account of Shiva’s mythic
deeds—many of which have become
the common mythology for many
traditional Hindus—as well as instructions for how, where, and when Shiva is
to be worshiped.