Purana means "Tales of ancient times" , which bears the name of an ancient Indian genre of Hindu literature. History, tradition and religion contributed to the themes of Puranas. Sanskrit is the prevalent language in which major Puranas are written; however there are also some Puranas, which are written, in other Indian languages.

The Puranas were usually written in the form of stories. There are many Puranas which are divided into Mahapuranas and Upapuranas . Apart from these two there are also Sthala and Kula Puranas. Sthala Puranas mainly narrates the stories of the temple`s creation and spiritual history; and the Kula Puranas, which deals mainly with the origin, and legends of a particular caste. Together these sthala and Kula purana therefore completes the structure of other Hindu puranas.

In Sanskrit the word Sthala means `Place`. Thus from here the meaning of `Sthala Purana` can be derived. The corpus of the Purana narrates the qualities and stories that were connected with a certain temple or holy place. Sthala Purana is the literature of each pilgrimage center. Sthala Purana is numerous in number, mostly written in vernaculars. Some texts of Sthala Purana can be found with Sanskrit version as well and some of which also appears in a Mahapurana or even in Upapurana. There exist eight sthala puranas: Kaumarika Khanda, Kausiki Mahatmaya (aka Visvamitramahatmaya), Kuberaka Purana, Malla Purana, Narmada Mahatmaya, Prabhasa Khanda, Sabaramati Purana (Sabarmati Mahatmaya) and Sarasvati Purana.

The word `Kula` means `family` or `Tribe` in Sanskrit. Kula Puranas are mostly caste-focused. Mainly the stories of Kula Puranas deal with a Caste`s original myth, stories and legends. The Kula Puranas are the important source for Caste identity. And these puranas are usually contested by other, rival, castes. Written mainly in vernacular "Kula Purana" therefore focuses on the identity of the different castes.

By the name of Purana, there are many tales that go along with name. Most of them are usually concerned with mythical and historical narrations and written in vernaculars. These texts are vast in number, such as the Padma Purana of Bengal and Assam narrating the story of the goddess Manasa, and spread out all over the Indian subcontinent. These also adds to the varieties of other Hundu puranas.