The Goddess Ambika or Durga Leading the Eight Matrikas in Battle Against the Demon Raktabija, Folio from Devi Mahatmya, Markandeya Purana.

For other meanings, see Purana (disambiguation).

The Puranas (Sanskrit: पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times") are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.^[1]

Puranas usually give prominence to a particular deity, employing an abundance of religious and philosophical concepts. They are usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another. The Puranas are available in vernacular translations and are disseminated by Brahmin scholars, who read from them and tell their stories, usually in Katha sessions (in which a traveling Brahmin settles for a few weeks in a temple and narrates parts of a Purana, usually with a Bhakti perspective).^{[citation needed]}

Origins[link]

An illustration of Varaha avatar based on the Bhagavata Purana

Vyasa, the narrator of the Mahabharata, is traditionally considered the compiler of the Puranas.^[2] However, the earliest written versions date from the time of the Gupta Empire (third-fifth century CE) and much material may be dated, through historical references and other means, to this period and the succeeding centuries. The texts were probably written all over India.

The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas.^[3] On one hand, they existed in some oral form before being written^[3] while at the same time, they have been incrementally modified well into the 16th century^[3][4] and perhaps down to the present day.

An early reference is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2). (circa 500 BCE). The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad refers to purana as the "fifth Veda",^[5] itihāsapurāṇaṃ pañcamaṃ vedānāṃ, reflecting the early religious importance of these myths, presumably then in purely oral form. Importantly, the most famous form of itihāsapurāṇaṃ is the Mahabharata. The term also appears in the Atharvaveda 11.7.24.^[6][7]

According to Pargiter,^[6] the "original Purana" may date to the time of the final redaction of the Vedas. Gavin Flood connects the rise of the written Purana historically with the rise of devotional cults centring upon a particular deity in the Gupta era: the Puranic corpus is a complex body of materials that advance the views of various competing cults.^[8]

Common ideas are found throughout the corpus but it is not possible to trace the lines of influence of one Purana upon another so the corpus is best viewed as a synchronous whole.^[8]

The All India Kashiraj Trust, formed under Vibhuti Narayan Singh, the Maharaja of Kashi, dedicated itself to publishing editions of the Puranas.^[9]

Content[link]

According to Matysa Purana,^[10] they are said to narrate five subjects, called Pancha Lakshana pañcalakṣaṇa(Sanskrit:Template:Sanskrit) ("five distinguishing marks", though some scholars have suggested that these are shared by other traditional religious scriptures):^[11][12]

1. Sarga: the creation of the universe.
2. Pratisarga: secondary creations, mostly recreations after dissolution.
3. Vamśa: genealogy of the gods and sages.
4. Manvañtara: the creation of the human race and the first human beings. The epoch of the Manus' rule, 71 celestial Yugas or 308,448,000 years.
5. Vamśānucaritam: the histories of the patriarchs of the lunar and solar dynasties.

The Puranas also lay emphasis on keeping a record of genealogies, as the Vayu Purana says, "to preserve the genealogies of gods, sages and glorious kings and the traditions of great men."^[13] The Puranic genealogies indicate, for example, that Sraddhadeva Manu lived 95 generations before the Bharata war.^[14] In Arrian's Indica, Megasthenes is quoted as stating that the Indians counted from "Dionysos" (Shiva) to "Sandracottus" (Chandragupta Maurya) "a hundred and fifty-three kings over six thousand and forty-three years."^[15] The list of kings in Kalhana's Rajatarangini goes back to the 19th century BCE.^[16]

Pargiter has argued that the Puranic Krta Yuga—in the Vayu Purana the four Yugas are divided into 4800, 3600, 2400, and 1200 years—"ended with the destruction of the Haihayas [by Rama Jamadagnya]; the Treta began approximately with Sagara and ended with Rama Dasarathi's destruction of the Raksasas; and the Dvapara began with his reinstatement at Ayodhya and ended with the Bharata battle".^[17][18]

Texts[link]

Part of a series on
Hindu scriptures
Vedas
Rigveda · Samaveda Yajurveda · Atharvaveda Divisions Samhita · Brahmana Aranyaka · Upanishads
Vedangas
Shiksha · Chandas Vyakarana · Nirukta Kalpa · Jyotisha
Upanishads
Rig vedic Aitareya Yajur vedic Brihadaranyaka · Isha Taittiriya · Katha Shvetashvatara Sama vedic Chandogya · Kena Atharva vedic Mundaka · Mandukya Prashna
Puranas
Brahma puranas Brahma · Brahmānda Brahmavaivarta Markandeya · Bhavishya Vaishnava puranas Vishnu · Bhagavata Naradeya · Garuda · Padma · Agni Shaiva puranas Shiva · Linga Skanda · Vayu
Itihasa
Ramayana Mahabharata (Bhagavad Gita)
Other scriptures
Manu Smriti Artha Shastra · Agama Tantra · Sūtra · Stotra Dharmashastra Divya Prabandha Tevaram Ramcharitmanas Yoga Vasistha
Scripture classification
Śruti · Smriti
Timeline
Hindu texts
v t e

The Mahapuranas[link]

Of the many texts designated 'Puranas' the most important are the Mahāpurāṇas. These are always said to be eighteen in number, divided into three groups of six, though in fact they are not always counted in the same way. Combining the various lists Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen have collated twenty names:^[19]

Classification[link]

Puranas are classified according to qualification of persons who can understand them: "Purāṇas are supplementary explanations of the Vedas intended for different types of men. All men are not equal. There are men who are conducted by the mode of goodness, others who are under the mode of passion and others who are under the mode of ignorance. The Purāṇas are so divided that any class of men can take advantage of them and gradually regain their lost position and get out of the hard struggle for existence."^[23]

The Mahapuranas are frequently classified according the three aspects of the divine Trimurti^[24]:

^[25]

According to the Padma Purana,^[26] the texts may be classified in accordance with the three gunas or qualities; truth, passion, and indifference:

The Upapuranas[link]

The Upapurāṇas are lesser or ancillary texts: these are sometimes also said to be eighteen in number, with still less agreement as to the canonical titles. Few have been critically edited. They include: Sanat-kumara, Narasimha, Brihan-naradiya, Siva-rahasya, Durvasa, Kapila, Vamana, Bhargava, Varuna, Kalika, Samba, Nandi, Surya, Parasara, Vasishtha, Devi-Bhagavata, Ganesha, Mudgala, and Hamsa.^[27]

The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha.^[28][29] The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which extols the goddess Durga, has become (along with the Devi Mahatmya of the Mārkandeya Purana) a basic text for Devi worshipers.^[30]

There are many others all over the Indian subcontinent.^[31]

Sthala Puranas[link]

This corpus of texts tells of the origins and traditions of particular Tamil Shiva temples or shrines. There are numerous Sthala Puranas, most written in vernaculars, some with Sanskrit versions as well. The 275 Shiva Sthalams of the continent have puranas for each, famously glorified in the Tamil literature Tevaram. Some appear in Sanskrit versions in the Mahapuranas or Upapuranas. Some Tamil Sthala Puranas have been researched by David Dean Shulman.^[32]

Kula Puranas[link]

These Puranas deal with a caste's origin myth, stories, and legends (the word kula means "family" or "tribe" in Sanskrit). They are important sources for caste identity though usually contested by rival castes. This subgenre is usually in the vernacular and may at times remain oral.^[33] These have been little researched, though they are documented in the caste section of the British Census of India Report and the various Gazetteers.^[34]

Jain and Buddhist Puranas[link]

Jain Puranas deal with Jain myths, history and legends and form a major part of early Kannada literature.^{[35] [36]} The best known is the Mahapurana of Acharya Jinasena. Among Buddhist Puranas, Swayambhu Purana narrates the mythological history of Nepal and describes Buddhist pilgrimage sites inside the Kathmandu Valley.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Bhargava, P.L. 1971. India in the Vedic Age. Lucknow: Upper India Publishing.
• Dimmitt, Cornelia; van Buitenen, J. A. B. (1978). Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 81-7030-596-9. 
• Doniger, Wendy (editor) (1993). Purāṇa Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts. Albany, New York: State University of New York. ISBN 0-7914-1382-9. 
• Handoo, Jawaharlal (editor) (1998). Folklore in Modern India. ISBN 81-7342-055-6. 
• Hardy, Friedhelm (2001). Viraha-Bhakti - The Early History of Krsna Devotion in South India. ISBN 0-19-564916-8. </ref>
• Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43304-5. 
• Johnson, W.J. (2009). A Dictionary of Hinduism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861025-0. 
• Kaushal, Molly (editor) (2001). Chanted Narratives - The Katha Vachana Tradition. ISBN 81-246-0182-8. 
• Majumdar, R. C.; Pusalker, A. D. (1951). The history and culture of the Indian people. 1: The Vedic age. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. 
• Mackenzie, Brwon (1990). The Triumph of the Goddess - The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the DevI-BhAgavata PuraNa. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-0363-7. </ref>
• Mittal, Sushil (2004). The Hindu World. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21527-5. 
• Moghe, S. G. (editor) (1997). Professor Kane's contribution to Dharmasastra literature. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd.. ISBN 81-246-0075-9. 
• Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 
• Pargiter, F.E. (1922). Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. London: Oxford University Press. 
• Pargiter, F. E. (1962) [1922]. Ancient Indian historical tradition. Original publisher Oxford University Press, London. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass. OCLC 1068416. 
• Rao, Velcheru Narayana (1993). "Purana as Brahminic Ideology". In Doniger Wendy. Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-1381-0. 
• Shulman, David Dean (1980). Tamil Temple Myths: Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition. ISBN 0-691-06415-6. 
• Singh, Nagendra Kumar (1997). Encyclopaedia of Hinduism. ISBN 81-7488-168-9. 
• Thapan, Anita Raina (1997). Understanding Gaṇapati: Insights into the Dynamics of a Cult. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers. ISBN 81-7304-195-4. 

Further reading[link]

• Thurston Edgar. Castes and Tribes of Southern India (Vols I-V). Cosmo Publication, Delhi.

External links[link]

• The Puranas (bharatadesam.com)

Texts[link]

• Puranas in Devnagari, typed, PDF files
• GRETIL (uni-goettingen.de)

Translations[link]

• Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Full text of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, with the original Sanskrit, word-for-word meanings, translation, and commentary.
• The Vishnu Purana Full text of the H.H. Wilson translation at sacred-texts.com

Synopses[link]

• Contents of 18 Puranas and a list of Upapuranas (lesser Puranas) (a Java applet)
• Extensive synopsis of several Maha Puranas
• Synopsis of Puranas at Urday.com
• Agni Purana - A synopsis

Jagjit Singh
Jagjit Singh performing at Jaidev Hall, Bhubaneswar, on 7 September 2011
Background information
Birth name	Jagmohan Singh
Born	(1941-02-08)8 February 1941 Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner State, India
Died	10 October 2011(2011-10-10) (aged 70) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Genres	Ghazal, Classical, Devotional, Folk
Occupations	Composer, Singer, Music Director, Activist, Entrepreneur
Instruments	Vocals, Harmonium, Tanpura, Piano
Years active	1965–2011
Labels	EMI, HMV, Saregama, Universal Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Polydor, TIPS, Venus, T-Series, Magna Sound, Big Music, Times Music

Jagjit Singh, born Jagmohan Singh); (8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, songwriter and musician. Known as "the Ghazal King", he gained acclaim together with his wife, another renowned Indian Ghazal singer Chitra Singh in the 1970s and 1980s. Their combination album comprising music from the films, Arth and Saath Saath is the HMV's largest selling combination album of all time.^{[citation needed]} Sajda (An Offering, 1991), Jagjit Singh's magnum opus double album with Lata Mangeshkar holds the same record in non-film category.^{[citation needed]} He had sung in numerous languages. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 2003.

Singh is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. In terms of Indian Classical music, his style of composing and Gayaki (singing) is considered as Bol-pradhan, one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films such as Prem Geet (1981), Arth and Saath Saath (1982), and TV serials Mirza Ghalib (1988) and Kahkashan (1991). Jagjit Singh is considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time in terms of both critical acclaim and commercial success. With a career spanning over five decades and a repertoire comprising over 80 albums,^[1] the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining. He is the only composer and singer to have composed and recorded songs written by Prime Minister - Atal Behari Vajpayee - also a critically acclaimed poet - in two albums, Nayi Disha (1999) and Samvedna (2002).

Singh's 1987 album, Beyond Time, was the first digitally recorded release in India.^{[citation needed]} He was regarded as one of India's most influential artistes. Together with sitar legend Ravi Shankar and other leading figures of Indian classical music and literature, Singh voiced his concerns over politicisation of arts and culture in India and lack of support experienced by the practitioners of India's traditional art forms, particularly folk artists and musicians. He also lent active support to several philanthropic endeavors such as the library at St. Mary's School, Mumbai, Bombay Hospital, CRY, Save the Children and ALMA.

Early life and career[link]

Jagjit Singh was born on 8 February 1941 in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, India. His birth name was Jagmohan but this was changed to Jagjit after his parents sought the advice of a member of the Sikh Namdhari sect.^[2] His parents were themselves Sikhs, called Amar Singh and Bachan Kaur, and had several other children, with sources variously reporting the number between six and eleven.^[3][4]

Educated initially at Khalsa High School and Sri Ganganagar Government College, Singh obtained an arts degree from DAV College at Jalandhar and then a post-graduate degree in history from Kurukshetra University in Haryana. Throughout this time, and as a consequence of a natural talent that was spotted by his father, Singh learned music both in Sikh temples and from musicians such as Pandit Chaganlal Sharma and Ustad Jamaal Khan, both of whom were trained in classical Indian music. He performed on radio and on stage, as well as composing some material, although he subsequently claimed that his father, who was a government employee, had hoped that he would become an engineer.^[5] On another occasion his memory was that his father aspired for him to become a bureaucrat, and that his siblings also were encouraged musically.^[3]

In March 1965, and without the knowledge of his family,^[5] Singh moved to Mumbai, where there were many opportunities for music artists because of the Bollywood film industry. He obtained work initially as a singer of advertising jingles and later progressed to playback singing.^[2] In the same year he persuaded the record company HMV to produce an EP, and he also altered his Sikh image by abandoning his turban, shaving and cutting his hair.^[5] His first film role was in Dharati Na Chhoru, a Gujarati production by Suresh Amin.^{[citation needed]}

Fame[link]

Singh was still struggling to make a living in 1967 when he met the Bengali-born Chitra Dutta.^[5] She was also a jingle singer, and was unhappily married with a daughter. She subsequently divorced and then married Singh in December 1969.^[3] Following the birth of their son, Vivek, the couple performed as a singing duo but it was not until the 1976^{[clarification needed]} release of an album entitled The Unforgettables that they found significant, and surprising, success. In the interval, the primary difficulty for them had been that the ghazal music genre was dominated by Muslim artists,^[5] and especially those from Pakistan.^[6]

The Unforgettables, which was the couple's first LP,^[3] was an unconventional recording and it turned them into stars. The song Baat Niklegi from the album achieved great popularity for Singh and his wife.^[4] The Independent described it in 2011 as "ground-breaking ... it became a transformative, before-and-after milestone in the history of Indian popular and ghazal music. It remains that." Using modern arrangements, it consists of ten tracks that include two on which they sang as a duo and the remainder equally split between Jagjit and Chitra singing the lead. The Independent further noted that "This format of solo and duet performances from the first commercially successful husband-and-wife team in Indian popular music proved astonishingly successful."^[2] Jagjit explained that "I was determined to polish up the genre and make it more acceptable to modern tastes, so chose simple poems and set them to simple tunes. I also introduced western instrumentation to make them livelier." Thereafter, the couple worked both on solo and joint musical projects and performed concerts worldwide. There was also success from involvement with the film industry and they amassed a considerable wealth,^[5] while Jagjit became known as "the Ghazal king".^[6]

Jagjit Singh's work in film^[7] encompassed playback singing for productions such as Arth, Saath Saath and Premgeet. He also composed all of the songs for the latter, as well as for the TV serial Mirza Ghalib that was based on the life of the eponymous poet, Mirza Ghalib.^{[citation needed]}

Among their subsequent duo recordings of the 1970s were Shiv Kumar Batalvi – Birha da Sultan (1978), Live in Concert at Wembley (1979) and Come Alive (1979). Of those released in the 1980s, Ecstasies (1984) has been described as "one of their finest".^[2] The joint projects ceased in 1990 when their eighteen year-old son, Vivek, was killed in a road accident. Chitra felt unable to sing following these events. Monica, Chitra's daughter from her first marriage, committed suicide in 2009.^[2][5]

Although Jagjit continued to work and to have success after Chitra withdrew from public life he, too, was affected by the death of Vivek. The Guardian notes that he "suffered from deep depression and his anguish was often evident in his live performances." Aside from occupying himself with solo projects, which he performed in several languages,^[6] he also collaborated with Lata Mangeshkar on an album entitled Sajda, an Urdu word meaning "prostration".^[2][5]

On 10 May 2007, in the presence of numerous political and diplomatic luminaries at an event held in the Central Hall of the Parliament of India, Jagjit Singh rendered Bahadur Shah Zafar's famous ghazal Lagta nahin hai dil mera to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.^[4][8]

Death[link]

Singh toured the UK in 2011 and was due to perform with Ghulam Ali in Mumbai^[5] but suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on 23 September 2011. He was in a coma for over two weeks and died on 10 October 2011 at Lilavati Hospital, in Mumbai. He was cremated the following day at Chandanwadi Crematorium in Mumbai.^[9][10]

A number of tributes have been paid to Singh after his death,^{[11][12][13][14][15]} and some tried to encash his popularity which was criticised by his wife.^[16]

Awards[link]

• In 2003, Singh was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, by the Government of India^[5]
• In 1998, Jagjit Singh was awarded Sahitya Academy Award, a literary honor in India. He was awarded this literary honor for popularizing the work of Mirza Ghalib.
• Sangeet Natak Academy Award
• Sahitya Kala Academy Award by Rajasthan Government in 1998
• Ghalib Academy by Delhi Government in 2005
• Dayavati Modi Award
• Lata Mangeshkar Samman in 1998 by Madhya Pradesh Government
• D. Litt. by Kurukshetra University, Haryana in 2003
• Teacher's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006

Film scores[link]

Discography[link]

References[link]