What are the most important Shaiva Puranas?

[Nuno Matos]

Namaste all!

Could some one tell in a guise of orientation what are the most important Shaiva Puranas.
Thank you!






Om namah Shivaya!

[Agnideva]

Namaste Nuno,

Could some one tell in a guise of orientation what are the most important Shaiva Puranas.

As far as classifications go, of the eighteen major Puranas, six are said to glorify Shiva: Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Linga Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana, and Agni Purana. This is a consideration only.

The most important of the puranas used by Shaivas are the Shiva Purana and the Linga Purana. The Skanda Purana also deals with Shiva legends and holy places in detail. The Shiva Purana is the most famous, and some say older than the Linga Purana. The Shiva Purana is made up of six samhitas, which represent the collections of teachings and legends as known to six different Shaiva schools, or so I'm told.

Apart from these, there is also a subsidiary purana called the Shiva Rahasya Purana or the Shiva Rahasya Itihasa. This is an interesting text, I've heard, because it brings together the teachings from the Vedas, Upanishads, Agamas, Puranas and other sources and puts them in the context of Shaivism.

OM Shanti,
A.