The Upapuranas are a genre of Hindu religious textsconsisting of many compilations differentiated from the Mahapuranas by styling them as secondary Puranas using a disparaging prefix Upa. Though, only a few of these compilations originated earlier than most of the extantMahapuranas, some of these texts are extensive and important.
The extent
Defination and notes
Similar to the case of the Mahapuranas, a claim has been made in a number of Puranas and Smritis that the Upapuranas are also eighteen in number and give evidence of their knowledge of the existence of a larger number of the Upapuranas. But, unlike the case of the Mahapuranas, the different lists of eighteen Upapuranas seldom agree with one another with regard to the names of these texts. Lists of eighteen Upapuranas occur in a number of texts, which include the Kurma Purana, the Garuda Purana, the Brihaddharma Purana, the Devi Bhagavata Purana, the Ekamra Purana, the Vāruṇa Purāṇa, the Pārāśara Purāṇa, the Skanda Purana, the Padma Purana, the Brahmavaivarta Purana, the Aushanasa Purāṇa, Hemadri's Caturvargacintamani and Ballal Sena's Dana Sagara. In spite of the mention of a particular Upapurana in different lists under different names, these lists provide us the names of much more than eighteen texts as the Upapuranas. In fact, by examining all the Sanskrit texts which mention the names of these texts, the actual number of the Upapuranas are found to be near a hundred, including those mentioned in the different lists. But, it can not be denied that many of these texts have been lost without leaving any trace.
The Major Upapuranas
Sthala and Kula Tamil Puranas and other Minor Upapuranas
Unlike the Mahapuranas, most of the Upapuranas have been able to preserve their oldermaterials along with their distinctive sectariancharacter. All extant Upapuranas can be broadly divided into six groups according to the sectarian views found in these texts: Vaishnava, Shakta, Shaiva, Saura, Ganapatya and non-sectarian.
The Vaishnava Upapuranas
The most significant texts among the Vaishnava Upapuranas are the Vishnudharmapurva Purana, the Vishnudharmottara Purana, the Narasimha Purana, the Brihannaradiya Purana and the Kriyayogasara. The extant Narasimha Purana comprises 68 chapters. The extant Vishnudharma Purana comprises 105 chapters.
The Shakta Upapuranas
Among the Shakta Upapuranas, the most important extant texts are the Kalika Purana , the Mahabhagavata Purana, the Devi Bhagavata, and the Candi Purana. The extant Kalika Purana comprises 98 chapters.
The Shaiva Upapuranas
The notable Shaiva Upapuranas are the Shiva Purana, the Saura Purana, the Shivadharmapurva Purana, the Shivadharmottara Purana, the Shivarahasya Purana, the Ekamra Purana, the Parashara Purana, the Varuna Purana, and the Maheshwara Purana. The extant Saura Purana comprises 69 chapters. The extant Parashara Upapurana consists 18 chapters. The extant Shivadharma Purana comprises 24 chapters and deals only with the religious rites and duties of the worshippers of Shiva. It mentions itself as a shastra or ''dharmashastra.
The Saura Upapuranas
The only extant text which can be called an exclusive Saura Purana is the Samba Purana. It comprises 84 chapters.
The Ganapatya Upapuranas
Only two extant Upapuranas profess the views of the Ganapatya sect. These are the Mudgala Purana and the Ganesha Purana.
The non-sectarian Upapuranas
The Upapuranic works, which do not profess any particular sectarian views are the Bhavishyottara Purana, the Kapila Purana and the Brihaddharma Purana.
